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To usher in one of the most comprehensive rules ever in an anti-regulatory political climate, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration may need some fire power. The agency lobbed its first volley with a white paper outlining the benefits of an injury and illness prevention program rule.
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While the pressure grows to raise the rate of influenza vaccination of health care workers to 90%, an identical Healthy People 2020 goal for hepatitis B vaccination of health care workers remains quietly unmet.
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Despite workplace protections, pregnant nurses may still be at risk from exposure to chemotherapy and sterilizing agents.
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At the end of February, typically the peak of the influenza season, there were only regional and sporadic cases of flu in most of the United States. In fact, the quiet left some infectious disease experts wondering, "Where is the flu?"
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By Toni C. McKenna, DNSc, RN, director of the Center for Continuing Nursing Education & Health Careers Institute at the University of Texas Arlington.
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Any staff member with patient contact, including those who perform a registration function, might be approached during a survey by The Joint Commission, according to Cynthia Leslie, RN, associate director of The Joint Commission's Standards Interpretation Group.
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Could a patient standing in front of you be using another patient's ID and insurance to obtain care? Is someone stealing a patient's information to obtain credit fraudulently? These areas are the primary risk in registration areas, according to Dan Schulte, executive vice president of revenue cycle solutions at The Outsource Group in St. Louis, MO.
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As promised by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and mandated by the HITECH Act, HIPAA compliance audits have begun, and 20 organizations were visited during the pilot phase of the program.
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Members of the patient access staff at Catholic Health Initiatives Nebraska now play a role in complying with The Joint Commission's requirement that patients be offered educational materials on advanced directives when they are admitted, says Lauree M. Miller, director of patient access.
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Unintentional fraud can take many forms in patient access areas, including some involving protected health information (PHI), says Dan Schulte, executive vice president of revenue cycle solutions at The Outsource Group in St. Louis, MO.
