All Blog Posts (1,655)

Whistleblowing is a very important area of the healthcare industry. When exercised properly and with integrity, it helps expose major frauds and saves the industry from many malpractices. There have been instances of whistleblowers bringing many companies into the legal net and helping save frauds.

A whistleblower act, or what is called or qui tam action, can offer huge financial rewards to those who are retaliated against for exposing financial fraud that their company…

Stark Law, more formally referred to as The Physician Anti-Referral Law (known as Stark II), is a prominent law concerning physician referrals. Healthcare providers that file claims require compliance with the Stark rules. Failure to comply can invite an enforcement action. The fundamental aim of this law is the elimination of malpractices in the healthcare sector. Implemented in stages known as Stark II and Stark III; the Stark Laws consider particular actions on the part of the…

The final regulations for the new HIPAA Breach Notification Rule place a far greater burden on Covered Entities and Business Associates than earlier. It is not enough for them to just notify individuals whose Protected Health Information (PHI) have been affected. For them to determine if a breach occurred, they must follow and document a very specific process. Their work does not end here. If no Breach occurred, then documentary evidence to this effect must be compiled and kept for…

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed major changes into the Conditions of Participation for Discharge Planning. These changes will have a profound effect on case management departments, which are now required to put in place a plan of action that addresses the new requirements that will affect their departments. Among the changes that will be made are out-patient discharge planning assessments, 7 days a week/24 hours a day discharge planning, and care…

Good Documentation Practice (GDP) constitutes the backbone of any GxP environment. Not only is GDP a sound business practice; it is also an FDA requirement. This being the case, it is absolutely essential for FDA-regulated organizations to get their GDP right. An organization that does not get its GDP right risks facing a number of consequences.

Today’s regulatory requirements are stricter than ever before. In this environment of very rigid regulatory environment;…

The criticality of risk analysis to HIPAA implementation can be understood from the fact that inability to carry out this activity is the principal reason for which The United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS or just HHS) levies civil money penalties on Business Associates and Covered Entities.

This means that Covered Entities and…

With the advent of globalization, the profile and nature of spread of many infectious diseases have changed. Earlier, many infectious diseases were limited to certain specific geographical regions. But this has changed with the emergence of the globetrotter. Additional factors such as globalization of trade and commerce and global warming have contributed significantly to propelling and motivating people to travel more and more all over the world. This trend has brought about a…

Although unfortunate; it is true that those who work in water systems design them keeping obsolete concepts in mind. Why this happens is that the water systems organization is reluctant to be open-minded enough to update its water systems from time to time. The result is that the water systems get built on a shaky foundation, making them fundamentally weak.

Myths are the backbone of water systems failures

An additional problem faced by most microbial monitoring…

The emerging discipline of Hospitals Management Performance Assessments

Over the past few years, Hospitals Management Performance Assessments have begun to gain acceptability and credence in healthcare circles. Hospitals Management Performance Assessments came into being as a result of a conscious effort by advanced countries, mainly European, with sufficient backing from the World Health Organization (WHO) to arrive at some sort of metrics…

It is important to ensure food safety in hospitals

Hospitals being what they are – where patients of almost all kinds visit or stay – are very potent sources of infection. Infection can arise from any part of the hospital. They can spread from patients to patients, from caregivers to patients, from patients to caregivers, from patients to support or administrative staff and vice versa, and so on. An often overlooked source of infection and contamination…

Airline and airport management courses are designed for those who want to make a career in the skies. Aviation has always been a preferred choice for a career. The existence of thousands of airports across the US -it has more than a third of the entire world's airports -and the large presence of aircraft for military and logistical purposes are major factors that prepare the ground for a career in airline and airport management. The prelude to a career in this field is to choose the right…