The MedSafe Compliance Corner

In response to new statistics showing an alarming increase in injuries and illness for health care workers, OSHA has announced plans to launch a National Emphasis Program (NEP) on nursing home and residential care facilities. The NEP will focus on musculoskeletal disorders.

Health care workers who administer antineoplastic drugs (chemotherapeutic agents that control or kill cancer cells) at are risk for unintentional chemotherapy exposure. All workers who handle these drugs, including nursing personnel, veterinary care workers, pharmacists, and even shipping and receiving personnel are at risk.

Although smoking may not be good for your health, it also may not be good for your employment. Increasingly, hospitals and other health care organizations are turning away job applicants who smoke.

On July 13^th, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed into law an important bill aimed at protecting healthcare workers from workplace violence. Titled “An Act Concerning Workplace Violence Prevention and Response in Health Care Settings,” it became effective on July 1, 2011. 

As an employer, you just learned through your company health plan that Joe from Accounting and his wife just gave birth to a baby boy. Your first thought is to congratulate the new Dad and then order a cake so all his co-workers can share in the happy news. But are you violating HIPPA rules by doing so? The answer is yes.

This week, In The Know looks at the following news articles: Health Care Costs Projected To Be Nine Percent of the GDP by 2035; Bill Introduced to Establish Nurse-to-Patient Ratios; $10 Million Earmarked to Promote Healthy Workplace Environments; Guidelines for Blood Use Urged by the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability; Diabetes in the US Tripled Since 1980;

OSHA is about to overhaul several outdated regulations and align some of its standards with those administered by other agencies. The rule, which will soon be published in the Federal Register, is expected to save employers $43 million and significantly reduce time spent processing paperwork by 1.85 million hours annually. It will become effective on July 8, 2011.

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) added formaldehyde to its official list of known human carcinogens following the release of The Report on Carcinogens, a congressionally mandated document that is prepared for the HHS by the national Toxicology Program (NTP). Funeral workers in particular are at risk, as formaldehyde is a commonly used preservative in mortuaries. Exposure occurs primarily by inhaling formaldehyde gas or vapor from the air or by absorbing liquids containing formaldehyde through the skin.

With the compliance date of January 1, 2012 fast approaching for Version 5010 of HIPAA transactions, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has designated this Wednesday, June 15, as National 5010 Testing Day.

 The Joint Commission has recently begun to seek input on proposed influenza vaccination standards for staff and licensed independent practitioners of certain health care settings, such as Ambulatory Care, Home Health Care, Laboratory, and Behavioral Health Care. These types of facilities currently do not have specific standards for this purpose, although standards are in place for other types of facilities, such as Critical Access Hospitals, Hospitals, and Long Term Care facilities (standard IC.02.04.01). The Joint Commission requires these facilities to offer influenza vaccinations to health care workers, including licensed independent practitioners and volunteers. It also requires that the facilities collect data on the reasons healthcare workers have declined to receive the vaccination.