On January 29, 2021, OSHA issued stronger guidance on helping employers implement a COVID-19 prevention program. OSHA has a National Emphasis Program for COVID-19. The Primary Target Industries include healthcare such as dentist offices and doctor offices.

Compliance involves assessment of the hazard, identification of control measures, implementation of policies, and training employees. According to Larry McGowan, Supervisory Industrial Hygienist at OSHA’s Office of Health Enforcement, if a dental office receives a programmed inspection and all of the employees are vaccinated against COVID-19, likely the inspection would terminate.

OSHA has temporarily suspended annual medical evaluations during COVID due to shortage of respirators.

CDC indicates the following regarding medical evaluations:

According to CDC, 39.3% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. The good news is that 74% of the population 65 years or older are fully vaccinated.

Our office is receiving numerous support calls about patients asking staff if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. How do you respond to this question?

Have you been vaccinated against COVID-19? CDC provided this recent update for those who have been vaccinated:

Guiding principles for fully vaccinated people are now provided in CDC’s Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People. CDC indicates that despite the updated published guidance, immunocompromised people need to consult with their healthcare provider regardless of vaccine status. Summary of recent changes that affect you:

Everyone knows that having the right IT company to serve your practice is acutely important, but how do you choose the right one? Asking the right questions will clarify whether or not the IT company you’re interviewing will meet your needs in the ever-advancing world of technology and security threats. Let’s explore some questions that you can use as your framework.

OSHA published the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on June 10th. See Emergency Temporary Standard here: https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/safework

This standard generally does NOT apply to your dental office IF you meet ALL of the following conditions:

According to CDC, 39.3% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. The good news is that 74% of the population 65 years or older are fully vaccinated.

Our office is receiving numerous support calls about patients asking staff if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. How do you respond to this question?

Most dental offices are operating with a voluntary COVID-19 vaccine program. There are those who decline the vaccine due to religious beliefs and those who decline due to medical reasons. There are also those who decline simply because they are not confident in the vaccine at this current time.

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.

Failure to provide access to one patient’s request of access to his/her medical records can lead to a hefty penalty for Health Care Providers (Covered Entities). The Office for Civil Rights settles their 16th case of the Right to Access Initiative enforcement that went into effect at the end of 2019. Sharp Health Care had to pay a $70,000 penalty for failure to take timely action in response to a patient’s records access request.

With the COVID-19 vaccine available to healthcare workers, we are receiving numerous support calls and messages about employees refusing the vaccine.

Everyone is asking whether they can require employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

As employers, we must take into consideration the guidance issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Employers may wish to require or at least encourage COVID-19 vaccinations. However, policies must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other workplace laws.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic through November 19th, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed penalties in the amount of $3,301,932.00.(1) This public document included three dental practices. Many of the citations related to failure to implement a written respiratory protection program, provide a medical evaluation, respirator fit test, and training.

Give it fourteen if you must quarantine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides guidance for the general public and health care settings.

CDC published Interim U.S. Guidance for Risk Assessment and Work Restrictions for Healthcare Personnel with Potential Exposure to COVID-19 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/guidance-risk-assesment-hcp.html. The following guidance applies to healthcare personnel with potential exposure in a healthcare setting to patients, visitors, or other healthcare personnel with confirmed COVID-19.

COVID-19 has presented numerous challenges in the workplace. During the period of shut down, numerous dental employees were either furloughed, laid off, or working virtually from their homes. Dentists received Guidance for Dental Settings published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). The return to work brought many changes.

Ouch! $2.3 million penalties assessed against a TN Business Associate, CHSPSC LLC.  The breach occurred in 2014 when the attackers were able to get into systems through a VPN (Virtual Private Network) using compromised admin credentials. The investigation is now complete, and penalties have
now been assessed by the Office for Civil Rights.   These were the 5 major HIPAA violations:

Has your Practice implemented Workforce Security policies and procedures to determine whether a particular user has the right to access ePHI (electronic protected health information) based on his/her particular job duties and responsibilities? Some workforce members may require different levels of access based on his/her job function or role within your Practice. Do you have a technical system in place to monitor inappropriate access such as log in monitoring or other technical safeguards?

Are you utilizing laptops within your Practice that are being transported out of the office?  Do you have staff that are telecommuting with the use of laptops?  Are laptops being transported to multiple satellite locations?

It is highly recommended to encrypt all media devices that may contain electronic protected health information (ePHI) and to implement a written Device & Media Control Policy.  Practices should consider implementing the reasonable and appropriate safeguards for the protection of ePHI such as encryption.

Olivia Wann joined the Dental Guys to discuss what exactly determines how we practice when we go back to work? Recently, OSHA has weighed in with guidelines for dental practices to protect our workers. How much of the federal OSHA guidelines will apply to your state? Can this conflict with other authorities who say it is okay to return to work and what do we do about it? Olivia Wann, attorney and dental OSHA compliance expert of Modern Practice Solutions joins us to discuss this and also to help us make more sense about the rollercoaster ride we have been on in our state just today with these very issues.

If you elect to take paid sick leave, your employer must continue your health coverage. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), an employer cannot establish a rule for eligibility or set any individual’s premium or contribution rate based on whether an individual is actively at work (including whether an individual is continuously employed), unless absence from work due to any health factor (such as being absent from work on sick leave) is treated, for purposes of the plan or health insurance coverage, as being actively at work.

First off, thank you for taking great care of your patients. Infection prevention has never been so highlighted, but we know so many of you stay dedicated to the CDC’s recommendations every day.

Second, many offices are reaching out with questions regarding waterline maintenance given that many offices are moving to limited or postponed care. We’ve coordinated with a few other manufacturers to help you know how to mitigate the rapid biofilm development to be expected within your DUWL during limited care.