Emory University Hospital in Atlanta was thrust into the international spotlight in the summer of 2014 as the world anxiously watched first one, then two, then three humanitarian workers infected with the Ebola virus return from West Africa to the United States for treatment as the months dragged on and public anxiety soared. The fourth patient treated at Emory was a nurse who became infected while caring for an Ebola patient at a Texas hospital.
Q: I realize that you cannot compel your staff to complete Occupational Safety and Health Administration training online on their own time. However, I am wondering whether the same applies for HIPAA training. Must this training be conducted during work hours, or can we provide workforce members with a deadline by which to complete training on their own time?
Criminal attacks on the healthcare industry have increased 125% since 2010, and are now the leading cause of data breaches at healthcare organizations, according to the results of a study released by the Ponemon Institute in May 2015. At the same time, the study says many hospitals and business associates (BA) are unprepared and cannot ensure patients' privacy against these attacks.
CMS' Conditions of Participation for UR include specific requirements for the composition of the UR committee, specifying that it must be composed of at least two doctors of medicine or osteopathy.
When the placement agency called and said it was looking for an interim case management director in Alaska, and asked if she was interested, Randi Ferrare, RN, BSN, hesitated for just a moment.
Case management in Alaska isn't for the faint of heart, according to Randi Ferrare, RN, BSN, interim director of case management and social work at Providence Alaska Medical Center. Some of the challenges force case managers at Providence Alaska to work a little harder and get a little more creative to meet the needs of its patient population. One innovative program at the hospital is its case management educator position.
