HIPAA

HIPAA Disclosure

DISCLOSING COVID-19 VACCINATION STATUS HHS has published an article on the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s effect on the disclosure of COVID-19 vaccination status for healthcare. The following are excerpts from the article. For the full text see: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/hipaa-covid-19-vaccination-workplace/index.html. Remember that HIPAA is not the only set of laws that regulate this information. Does the HIPAA Privacy […]

It’s Your Call November 2021

vintage phone

OSHA Trivia:  When was the Occupational Safety and Health Administration established by Congress? OSHA was established by Congress under President Richard Nixon on April 18, 1971. Before that date, very few states had decent worker protection laws. Workers could only accept dangerous conditions or find a new job. Presently, employers have a greater responsibility to […]

OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS)

Two laws were enacted last week that affect healthcare facilities of which you should be aware. Both revolve around COVID-19 vaccination of employees. One is the new OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard and the other is the Centers for Medicare + Medicaid Services (CMS) Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final […]

It’s Your Call October 2021

OCTOBER IS CYBERSECURITY MONTH!

OSHA:   Recall the four most common ways to spread germs and decide how you should protect yourself. Contact: Think of contaminated surfaces that are touched and how the germs are spread when hand hygiene is not performed. Sprays & splashes: Imagine a person sneezing. Now think of where the droplets/germs land. Not only do […]

Tennessee adopted Occupational Safety and Health Standards Covid-19 Emergency Temporary Rule

TMC is providing this information for healthcare workers in the state of Tennessee. Tennessee has adopted Chapter 0800-01-12 Occupational Safety and Health Standards Covid-19 Emergency Temporary Rule. Many outpatient medical + dental practices, will be exempt from the requirements of this rule. Non-hospital-based ambulatory care settings will be able to claim the exemption by demonstrating […]

FDA Alert – Medtronic Recalls Paradigm and 508 MiniMed Insulin

medical machine

The FDA has identified this as a Class I recall, the most serious type of recall. The use of these devices may cause serious injuries or death. Recalled Product All MiniMed Remote Controllers (model MMT-500 and MMT-503) are used with a Medtronic MiniMed 508 insulin pump or the MiniMed Paradigm family of insulin pumps. Reason […]

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month!

security scout doctor compliance

TMC’s Security Scout wants you to be Cyber Savvy!   Did you know? 43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses. Here’s how you can be Cyber Savvy: Use long, strong passphrases or passwords and different passwords for different programs and devices. See last month’s Advisor for password tips. Watch out for phishing emails and text messages! […]

COVID Exposure or Infection? Next Steps

COVID-19 ETS

Determining the next steps when a worker has symptoms or has been exposed to COVD-19 can be tricky. First let’s review the definition of exposure: Being within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period. An individual can spread the infection for 48 hours […]

Happy 25th Birthday HIPAA!

HIPAA

A Back-to-Basics Review The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 turned 25 on August 21st. You will notice that there is no mention of information, privacy, or security in its title. So, how did we end up with the Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules? Electronic health information and the internet were just […]