Compliance consultant Linda Harvey shares three common misperceptions regarding OSHA’s recently issued ETS for protecting health care workers from the coronavirus.
GreenLight is a comprehensive, all-in-one resource to proactively prepare and maintain best practices and compliant protocols for infection prevention. Here are five ways it can benefit your practice.
Compliance is a critical aspect of any successful dental practice. As such, it’s important to stay on top of current standards, laws and guidelines to safeguard your dental practice and patients. Here are five common denominators of compliance every practice should consider.
A growing number of states are allowing businesses, including dental practices, to reopen. Is your practice ready to resume routine patient care? Linda Harvey, RDH, shares several compliance factors to consider as part of your reopening process.
As practices embrace diverse administrative roles, compliance becomes increasingly important. Teams need to be aware of the importance of maintaining compliance, whether staying up to date on labor laws, OSHA...
Did you know that Hazard Communication violations were the second most frequently cited violation in 2015? Besides being plentiful, these violations are also expensive! On August 2, 2016 OSHA increased...
You've put on your favorite brand of mask and tossed on a new pair of disposable gloves, which means you're protected, compliant, and ready to see your first patient, right?...
The fact of the matter is this: medical emergencies are a frequent occurrence in dental offices, and being prepared to handle such an emergency properly and efficiently is of paramount...
Of the major threats that we see our customers presently facing, the most damaging of them is a breach of patient records. Unlike the cyber attacks that we read about...
Established in 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) primary mission is workplace safety in all industries. While many of the OSHA regulations apply to dentistry, dental professionals focus...
Since the Privacy Rule became effective in 2003, the HIPAA laws have become increasingly complex, with very detailed compliance requirements that come with stiff fines and penalties for noncompliance. As...
OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard is designed to ensure chemical safety in the workplace so that information about the identities and hazards of the chemicals must be available and understandable to...
CDC, OSHA, OSAP, ADHA. These are all organizations that require dental offices to be compliant with infection control regulations. Practices that do not meet these standards are subject to hefty...
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) ensures safe and healthful working conditions for employees by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. Dental offices...
Let’s face it. Complying with OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard is a headache. It involves understanding the regulations, gathering SDSs, generating chemical reports, and much more. Because of this, many dentists...
Recently, I receive a frantic email from an orthodontic client. A team member had emailed a patient’s diagnostic letter to the referring dentist. But the patient had specifically stated she...
All healthcare professionals would agree that maintaining confidentiality and privacy of patient information is of utmost importance. The requirements for maintaining confidentiality and privacy are strictly mandated under the HIPAA...
We’ve been asking you to submit your most pressing HIPAA-related social media questions, and a couple came in that I think are important, common questions. Question 1: How do you...
A few months ago, I wrote an article called Social Media Legal Considerations for Dentistry. Since then, I’ve received dozens of comments, questions and feedback. Many of you were simply grateful...
There is often misunderstanding as to what OSHA regulates in a dental facility. OSHA, in fact, is concerned with only one thing---the safety of employees. OSHA, which is an acronym...
Social media is a very common piece of marketing strategy for many businesses, including dental practices, and often these businesses look to their customers to help create content. Customers are...
In general, dentists want to comply with OSHA regulations. After all, who would willingly risk the astronomical fines of up to $5K and more per incident per day? The problem...
HIPAA and Release of Information regulations can create sticky situations. Frequently, I am asked how to handle release of information to the caregiver of an elderly patient after the information...
With new OSHA regulations coming into play, it’s time to rethink your bulky Material Safety Data Sheet binder. New OSHA Regulation – Hazard Communication For all hazardous products, OSHA requires...
If you’re a frequent reader of Off The Cusp, then you’ll know we cover a lot of topics and hear from a lot of different contributors who have a huge...
In February of this year the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced its plans for the Phase 2 mandatory HIPAA compliance audits. Since that time, several details surrounding the HIPAA...
Setting up for the next patient is a natural part of your daily workflow. You wouldn’t dream of not having an instrument pack or cassette along with disposable items ready...
At dinner in a restaurant recently with my husband, who is a psychologist, and one of his colleagues, I listened to them “talk shop” about therapists and confidentiality. As I...
“Which contact time do we follow for our disinfectant – there are three times listed?” “How do I get our students to comply with PPE?” “Do I have to wear...
As we mentioned previously, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced updates to the HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules. These updates were published in a new...