As air quality has been a major headline topic lately in the eastern U.S. and Canada, it is a major consideration for the dental practice as well. The scientific community has made a committed emphasis on indoor air quality of medical and dental facilities since the 1960s, and now with airborne infections becoming a critical focus, there have been new developments in ensuring that your practice’s air quality clean and healthy for both the patients and its workers.
As of May 10, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ OCR entered into a Voluntary Resolution Agreement with a Florida health center. This agreement resolves a disability discrimination complaint based on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. As well as Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.
As air quality has been a major headline topic lately in the eastern U.S. and Canada, it is a major consideration for the dental practice as well. The scientific community has made a committed emphasis on indoor air quality of medical and dental facilities since the 1960s, and now with airborne infections becoming a critical focus, there have been new developments in ensuring that your practice’s air is clean and healthy for both the patients and its workers.
Aerosol-generating procedures produce large quantities of aerosol that can hover in the air and eventually land on surfaces or be inhaled. To combat this, there are some amazing work practice controls and engineering control options. Here is the difference between the two:
Work Practice Controls – This is when the practice changes how certain treatments and arrangements are done. Work practice controls are different from engineering controls in that they do very little to eliminate the aerosol, but work around it in such a way that more or less isolates people from the hazard. Here are some examples of Work Practice Controls:
Plastic curtains separating patients
Separate rooms
Partitions
Sneeze guards
Easy-to-clean physical barriers between patient chairs
Orienting operatories parallel with the direction of airflow
The patient’s head being be positioned near return air vents, away from corridors, and toward a rear wall when feasible
Dental dams
Engineering Controls – These are machines that purify the air and collect the potentially infectious aerosol. Here are some examples of Engineering Controls:
External oral evacuation units
Air purifiers
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation
Amalgam separators
Capt-all devices
Whichever work practice controls or engineering controls you choose to implement, it is vital to be a part of the fight of infection control.
There are various social media scams where hackers target your accounts, removing your business name and even your presence entirely. These Facebook schemes can lead to serious consequences, including unauthorized access and potential damage to your reputation. Stay vigilant and regularly monitor your social media accounts for any signs of suspicious activity.
Are you planning to travel with your practice laptop this year? Here are some interesting statistics for you to take into account.
According to a survey by Ponemon Institute, “TSA reports that at mid level and large airports, 90,000-100,000 laptops are left at TSA checkpoints – an estimated 10,279 each week. 65% of those are never reclaimed. 53% said their laptops contained confidential business information, yet 63% of those had taken no steps to protect the information. 76% of companies surveyed reported losing 1 or more laptops each year with 22% of those lost due to theft. The FTC recommends that you ‘treat your laptop like cash!'”
As of May 10, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) entered into a Voluntary Resolution Agreement with a Florida healthcare clinic to resolve a disability discrimination complaint based on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The complaint was filed by an individual who is deaf and hard of hearing, alleging that the healthcare center where her husband was being treated failed to provide her with auxiliary aids and services when she requested an interpreter be present for her while she attended her husband’s post-surgical medical appointment, as his companion.
The OCR enforces Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, two federal civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability in programs receiving Federal financial assistance.
OCR Director Melanie Fontes Rainer said, “Ensuring patient safety is at the heart of providing care in a quality and ethical manner. It should not take a federal investigation for a health care provider to provide an interpreter so that a patient’s caregiver can understand important information, such as a post treatment plan. We are seeing case after case involving health care providers who fail in their responsibility under federal civil rights laws to provide effective communication to patients and their caregivers. This action supports OCR’s efforts to promote community integration by removing barriers to receiving services in the community. OCR will continue to take robust enforcement action until we make it clear that health care providers must remove unnecessary barriers and provide equal treatment for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.”
You can likely recall an experience where a patient forgot to tell you they had a heart attack or other major illness since the last time they visited your office. Good thing you took the time to make an inquiry of any changes in their health history!
This is a great question. We appreciate anyone willing to serve as HIPAA Officer in compliance capacities in a practice. First, let’s establish that the role and designation of the HIPAA Privacy Officer and the role of the HIPAA Security Officer may be combined into one designation as the HIPAA Compliance Officer in smaller practices. However, compliance with the Privacy Rule versus the Security Rule is a bit different.
In this age, to say that a business’ online presence is important would be a gross understatement. Whoever handles the practice’s media accounts is in effect managing the business’ reputation and how the practice communicates their objectives to both current and potential patients. Research shows that a whopping 79% of consumers go online to find medical / dental services, so it is vital to handle this facet of your business wisely.
