November 2016 Blog Posts (25)

For many professionals, writing skills are learned while they are on the job. In many cases, they would go by a preferred style or other documents or style guides that help to put a certain style in place. Editing, however, is rarely taught. Worse, the perception most people have of editing is that it is revising or rewriting a work. But the truth is different. Editing gives shape to a document. It helps to perfect and sculpt it. The big question most editors face…

Financial institutions have long been the most important source of payments for their customers. Of late, though, with an increase in competition and the advent of new non-bank entries into the marketplace, financial institutions have come under a lot more strain than they used to be.

Financial institutions need to reinvent themselves in a number of ways. They need to adapt novel strategies to…

Nanotechnology, a part of Quantum Physics (QP), is growing fast and has myriad uses. Nanotechnology is all about size and self-assembly. While QP deals with subatomic particles and waves; Nano relates to the atomic and molecular level. Atomic behavior and properties get dramatically changed at the Nano level. Of note are properties such as color change due to refraction of light. Gold, packaging and chemistry are some of the well-known areas into which…

The importance of conducting a risk analysis updating it can be gauged from the fact that failure to conduct a written risk analysis qualifies as “willful neglect”, which carries the highest Civil Money Penalty (“CMP”). This cannot be waived by the DHHS unlike violations that happen due to a reasonable cause.

Since risk analysis is a required implementation specification under the Security Rule, failure to do one amounts to willful neglect. If the civil…

A common qualifying measure of physician ability is the medical specialty board certification. Because the requirements of the board are increasing; the laws that restrict such use are on the rise.

A webinar from MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will offer learning on the new laws and qualifications of…

What can be and cannot be done with the use of personal devices under HIPAA is something practices and businesses that need to be compliant with the provisions of HIPAA need to be thoroughly aware of.

With changes expected in 2016 relating to personal devices as well as emailing and texting; staying compliant is extremely important to protect one’s practice or…

Compliance with the Stark Law has become more than just a compliance issue. It is an Enterprise Risk Management issue, as the substantial awards and settlements in recent enforcement actions indicate. Managing their compliance and enterprise risk by ensuring that their physician employment arrangements are defensible under the Stark Law is now an…

Maintaining clean conditions in the entire food operation is essential for ensuring effective sanitation in the food industry. This can be brought about only when the residual microorganisms are destroyed after the production, storage and service areas of food establishments are cleaned thoroughly.

Ensuring a microorganism-free environment is a huge challenge for those in the food industry. This is because activities related to food, such as food production, handling,…

The European Co smetics Products Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 (CPR), which became fully operational from July 2013, is a game changer in many ways, as it is considered a most contemporary regulatory framework concerning state-of-the-art of cosmetic science and product technology.

It sets out vastly harsher conditions for compliance of cosmetic products that are manufactured…

Rules implementing The Health Insurance and Portability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2003 (HITECH) underwent changes as a result of amendments brought about by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2013.

Fundraising is among the areas of change these rules covered. Important areas such…

For an organization that needs to show HIPAA compliance; having the proper policies and procedures in place is as important as ensuring that it is providing the appropriate patient rights and controls on its uses and disclosures of Protected Health Information (PHI). It makes sense for an organization that is the subject of a compliance review or is being…