The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published a blog post and released an infographic to share preliminary participation data for the Quality Payment Program during 2018. Key findings include: Overall, MIPS participation rates increased between 2017 and 2018 from 95 percent to 98 percent, respectively. Small practices participation increased … [Read more...] about CMS releases preliminary data on 2018 Quality Payment Program participation
Compliance
How exit interviews support your management
By Paul Edwards bio Does your practice use exit interviews safely and beneficially? Small practices do not need to conduct these interviews in person—in fact, you shouldn't! However, making an attempt to gather exit interview perspectives from every departing employee can help support your management actions and protect the practice. The steps you should take depend … [Read more...] about How exit interviews support your management
The duty to accommodate the religious beliefs of employees & job applicants
Federal and state laws ban employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of religion. Mere tolerance of religious differences in the workplace isn't enough to comply. Employers must also take affirmative steps to accommodate religious beliefs to the point of undue hardship. The EEOC is contending that the hospital's refusal to let the worker wear a mask instead … [Read more...] about The duty to accommodate the religious beliefs of employees & job applicants
The 10 things HHS says you should be doing to stop phishing, ransomware and other threats
HHS has published a Guidance on cybersecurity for healthcare organizations. Even though it's voluntary, the new HHS Guidance is significant to the extent it lays out the agency's expectations of the measures medical offices and other organizations should take to protect medical data from cybersecurity threats. How the Guidance came about The genesis of the Guidance is a … [Read more...] about The 10 things HHS says you should be doing to stop phishing, ransomware and other threats
Feds target doctors who took kickbacks
When it comes to breaking up diagnostic lab kickback schemes, federal enforcers start with the lab that paid the kickbacks and then turn to the downstream physicians who accepted them. This was the pattern in the Millennium Labs case. And now it seems to be playing out in the other lab kickback mega-scandal, the one involving Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL). The … [Read more...] about Feds target doctors who took kickbacks
TOOL: Model Religious Accommodations Policy
Mere tolerance of religious differences in the workplace isn't enough. Federal and state discrimination laws also require employers to take affirmative steps to accommodate the religious beliefs of employees and job applicants to the point of undue hardship. The starting point for compliance is implementing an accommodations policy. Here's a model you can adapt for your own lab … [Read more...] about TOOL: Model Religious Accommodations Policy
Traps to avoid: Giving ex-practice employees access to PHI
Your medical office staff understands the imperative of safeguarding personal health information (PHI) and wouldn't let strangers roam about the facilities freely. But it's easy for them to lower their guard when a former employee comes back to the practice, e.g., to pick up a final paycheck or just make a social call. Ex-employees are a common and virulent privacy threat, even … [Read more...] about Traps to avoid: Giving ex-practice employees access to PHI
Not just another HR story
By Lynne Curry bio Which do you believe? ☑ You can't trust anyone in HR: they'll get you talking, look sympathetic, but then turn everything you say over to management; ☑ HR is a luxury we don't need when we need all our budget resources to pay the employees who produce; ☑ HR = a partnership for managers, employees & organizations; ☑ HR = lots of talk + … [Read more...] about Not just another HR story
Job interviews: how to ask personal questions without committing discrimination
The job interview process is a breeding ground for discrimination complaints. One common mistake: asking job applicants inappropriate questions about their nationality, marital status, religion, disabilities and other characteristics that discrimination laws ban you from considering when making hiring decisions. Applicants on the receiving end of such questions are apt to … [Read more...] about Job interviews: how to ask personal questions without committing discrimination
10 Tips for Safely Navigating Maternity Leave of Absence
By Paul Edwards bio As employers and managers, all of us, at one point or another, will have an employee who is or becomes pregnant and needs to take a Maternity Leave of Absence (LOA). In fact, some of the most frequently asked questions we get here at CEDR HR Solutions revolve around what an employer is required by law to provide to their pregnant employees. Common … [Read more...] about 10 Tips for Safely Navigating Maternity Leave of Absence