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Nurses and pharmacists who handle chemotherapeutic drugs are unknowingly being exposed to a potential carcinogenic and reproductive hazard, and those with the highest exposures have significant chromosomal abnormalities, according to two recent studies.
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In the H1N1 influenza A pandemic, many infected health care workers failed to wear personal protective equipment.
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In the first update of a hazardous drug alert since 2004, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health added 21 drugs to the list of drugs that may pose an occupational risk to health care workers.
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Beware of recordkeeping violations. That's a word to the wise based on recent enforcement activity by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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Ear plugs aren't protection enough from high levels of noise at work.
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The ambulance was 20 minutes into a 60-minute drive, taking a patient with complications of influenza from a clinic to an urban hospital. No lights or sirens. This was a transport, not an emergency run. Suddenly, the driver of a Chevrolet Lumina crossed the center lane. The ambulance driver veered to the right, trying to avoid impact, but the Chevrolet hit the front left portion of the ambulance.
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Employee safety boosts patient safety. And that overall commitment to safety is something that The Joint Commission wants to promote.
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It's hard to imagine a tougher point-of-service collection challenge than collecting from emergency department patients. Patients may expect to pay a small copay, and when they change to inpatient status, may suddenly owe thousands of dollars toward their deductible.
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Every patient access department has registrars who can be counted on to rise to every occasion, but better pay may lure these valuable employees to other hospital departments or industries. Instead, why not give these employees "an offer they can't refuse" that is, a clear path to career advancement.
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Patient estimation software implemented in late 2009 at Tallahassee (FL) Memorial Hospital has "helped tremendously" with collections, says Joan S. Braveman, director of patient access and financial services. "In this past fiscal year, we increased our front-end cash collection by 40%," she says.
