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In October, Health and Human Services (HHS) released a press statement that a Dallas based dental office had agreed to a settlement of $10,000 for improperly disclosing patient protected health information (PHI) on a social media platform known for online reviews.   HHS's Office of Civil Rights received a complaint in June 2016 from a patient alleging that Elite Dental Associates had disclosed the patient's last name and details of their condition. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is an organization that operates within HHS and has the responsibility of enforcing the Privacy and Security Rules. During their investigation they confirmed that the dental...

You might remember this scene in the movie The Matrix. Cypher and Agent Smith are seated in a fancy restaurant. Cypher agrees to sell out his friends with the understanding he will be put back into the Matrix with no recollection of it's existence."I know this steak doesn't exist; I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it's juicy and delicious." <Cypher takes an indulgent bite of his steak> "After 9 years, you know what I realized? Ignorance is bliss." "HIPAA fines for non-compliance are based on the level of perceived negligence found within your organization...

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...