What began as a CDC guideline is evolving into a legal duty with more than 20 states and countless municipalities across the country adopting laws requiring individuals to wear masks or face coverings in enclosed indoor public spaces, including medical offices. As a result, medical offices must adopt and enforce mandatory mask policies at their facilities. While mask … [Read more...] about How to create and implement a mandatory face mask policy at your medical office
Compliance
Resource ready for next year’s QRDA Implementation
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the Quality Reporting Document Architecture (QRDA) Category III Implementation Guide (IG), Schematron, and Sample Files for Eligible Clinicians and Eligible Professionals Programs. The 2021 CMS QRDA III IG outlines requirements for eligible clinicians and eligible professionals to report electronic clinical … [Read more...] about Resource ready for next year’s QRDA Implementation
Use contact logging to ensure medical office employees practice social distancing
Managing a medical office compliance program in the age of COVID-19 poses new and unprecedented challenges. One of the biggest and most important is ensuring that employees and the persons they interact with on the job follow social distancing requirements. To succeed in this effort, you must have the capability to track actual encounters. One possibility is digital technology, … [Read more...] about Use contact logging to ensure medical office employees practice social distancing
Tool: Model COVID-19 Contact Log Sheet
Maintaining social distancing will be the price that medical offices and other businesses will have to pay to reopen and remain open until the COVID-19 threat goes away. But for social distancing to work, there must be a way to track and analyze actual encounters between people at your facility. One simple way to gather the essential data is to have employees and visitors … [Read more...] about Tool: Model COVID-19 Contact Log Sheet
Supreme Court ruling extends workplace protections to LGBTQ workers
By Mike O’Brien bio SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND TRANSGENDER STATUS NOW ARE PROTECTED CLASSES NATIONALLY: Federal civil rights law protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees, the United States Supreme Court announced June 15 in a landmark ruling. The historic decision will extend workplace anti-discrimination and anti-harassment protections to about 8 million LGBTQ workers … [Read more...] about Supreme Court ruling extends workplace protections to LGBTQ workers
Model COVID-19 Exposure Control Plan
Regulators have made it clear that workplaces must implement written plans to control COVID-19 exposure risks at the site. Here’s a Model Plan template your medical office can adapt that provides for the necessary protections. … [Read more...] about Model COVID-19 Exposure Control Plan
How to create a COVID-19 exposure control plan
For as long as COVID-19 remains a threat, businesses—both essential and nonessential—won’t be allowed to re-open and remain open unless they implement a plan to control workplace infection risks. While infection control is nothing new for medical offices, the challenges posed by COVID-19 are unprecedented and unique and you probably won’t find any great templates in your … [Read more...] about How to create a COVID-19 exposure control plan
Choosing an automated compliance partner
By Kristi Williams bio Sometimes the obvious isn’t so obvious. And sometimes it takes fresh eyes to see what has been right in front of you all along. Such is the case with automation in healthcare. Today, healthcare organizations find themselves continuously challenged to keep up with changing regulatory requirements and to ensure that their business practices adhere to … [Read more...] about Choosing an automated compliance partner
OIG Temporarily Waives Anti-Kickback Restrictions for Certain COVID-19 Physician Arrangements
As it previously did with the Stark Law, the OIG is temporarily loosening Anti-kickback Statute (AKS) restrictions to clear the way for health care arrangements during the COVID-19 emergency that would be problematic in times of normalcy. Public Health Emergency (PHE) Waiver Rules During a PHE, the OIG has discretion not to impose penalties on remuneration arrangements that … [Read more...] about OIG Temporarily Waives Anti-Kickback Restrictions for Certain COVID-19 Physician Arrangements
Must Employee Notify Employer of DUI?
QUESTION If one of our employees gets a DUI, do they have to notify us? ANSWER It depends. EXPLANATION There are at least four factors affecting whether the employee would have to come forward and tell you about the DUI? Your HR policies: What, if anything, do your current policies say about whether employees must notify you of their DUIs? Conviction or arrest? If the … [Read more...] about Must Employee Notify Employer of DUI?