News

There's an old saying "If the shoe fits, then wear it." It's got a ring to it, but it certainly wouldn't be good advice if we were talking about PPE use. The fact is when it comes to personal protective equipment (PPE), it's important to enforce minimum requirements to keep employees safe. In many cases this will be as simple as following manufacturers' recommendations, but in some cases it's up to the employer to set and enforce these minimum requirements. The procedures you perform that require PPE to eliminate or reduce likely exposure to blood or OPIM are listed in your Exposure...

By now pretty much everyone has heard about Jussie Smollett. It's a case that grabbed a lot of attention because it involved a celebrity. It was no secret that Jussie Smollett had admitted himself to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. At that point though his right to patient privacy was no different then anyone else. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) created standards that require all covered entities (healthcare facilities, dentists, physicians, labs etc) to protect patient privacy by implementing policies, safeguards and providing employee training. Considering the magnitude and exposure of this case it's easy to see why over 50 healthcare workers at Northwestern...

Now that that we've had some time to digest the Hazard Communication Standard's alignment with GHS we've realized just how much has changed especially when it comes to secondary container labeling. The new standard requires quite a bit of additional information and it can be tough to fit it on a standard label. Although write on labels are a quick and easy way to comply with the standard, it can be time consuming when you have multiple containers or locations. We've slowly built a collection of GHS labels that we created for our use in the field. These are products that usually need...

According to a recent U.S Government report, ransomware attacks have been rapidly increasing since early 2016. The reality is staggering. An estimated 4,000 ransomware attacks take place every day. So what is ransomware? It's a type of computer virus or malware that attempts to deny access to a user’s information by encrypting their data.   Healthcare and dental facilities are often targeted because of their perceived ability to pay a ransom and the reliance on maintaining the confidentiality and availability of patient electronic protected health information (ePHI) under HIPAA. So in essence, HIPAA makes you a potential target, but it also serves to protect you since it requires the implementation of technical, administrative and physical safeguards.  First off,...

 HIPAA is an acronym that stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. It provides privacy standards that protect patients' protected health information (PHI). The standard requires covered entities (doctors, dentists, labs, hospitals and other healthcare providers) to establish administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect this information.   Fortunately these requirements are intended to be scaleable and flexible. "One size doesn't fit all" is a good way to look at the scaleability of HIPAA. Implement technology and safeguards appropriate to your situation. Consider the size of the practice, the cost of implementation and the potential risk to ePHI among other things. Flexibility allows...