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OSHA Issues COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards - Mandatory Safety Measures for Healthcare EmployersBy: Jaime Tuite, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney With some exceptions, the ETS applies to hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, emergency responders, home healthcare workers, and ambulatory care facilities. The ETS does not apply to healthcare settings where there is a low risk of COVID-19 transmission, such as pharmacies in retail settings, telehealth services provided outside of a direct patient care setting, and well-defined hospital ambulatory care settings or home healthcare settings where all employees are fully vaccinated and all non-employees are screened prior to entry for COVID-19 symptoms. OSHA created a flowchart to assist healthcare employers to determine if they are covered by the ETS. Healthcare Employers Covered by the ETSUnder the ETS, covered employers must implement various safety measures, including:Covered employers must comply with most of these requirements within 14 days after publication of the ETS in the Federal Register. They will have 30 days to comply with the provisions addressing physical barriers, ventilation and training. Voluntary Guidance for All Other EmployersFor all other employers not covered by the ETS, OSHA issued updated (non-mandatory) guidance. In its updated guidance, OSHA states that unless otherwise required by law, most employers no longer need to follow measures to protect fully vaccinated workers. Instead, OSHA recommends that employers focus protections on unvaccinated and otherwise at-risk workers (workers with immunocompromising conditions, cannot get vaccinated, or cannot use face coverings).For unvaccinated and at-risk workers, OSHA recommends that employers implement/maintain multiple layers of controls that include:
Finally, in its updated guidance, OSHA encourages employers to take steps to make it easier for workers to achieve full vaccination, for example, by granting paid time off for employees to get vaccinated. | About the Author Jaime Tuite Jaime Tuite, shareholder and Head of the firm's Pittsburgh office, helps businesses of every size and kind resolve their employment issues. She tenaciously defends employers in discrimination, whistleblower and wage and hour lawsuits in trials. She also routinely litigates restrictive covenant cases and obtains temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions for employers enforcing employment agreements. In Pennsylvania, Florida, West Virginia and Ohio, Jaime’s clients represent a highly diverse range of industries, including finance, higher education, life sciences, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, energy, pharmaceutical and hospitality. |
Are Wearables Exposing Your Personal Health Data?
What Consumers Should Know About Health Tech and Data PrivacyBy: Julia Merrill
Who Is and Isn’t Required to Protect My Personal Health Information?
According to The Department of Health and Human Services “The Security Rule applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and to any health care provider who transmits health information in electronic form in connection with a transaction for which the Secretary of HHS has adopted standards under HIPAA (the “covered entities”) and to their business associates.” Read more.
Why Should I Be Worried?
“With the number of heartbeats, steps, and sleep history tracked, these types of ‘health data’ are not formally considered PHI unless it’s shared with a doctor, hospital, 3rd party vendors and therefore not subject to HIPAA regulations,” explains Varonis. Read more.
How Can I Protect Myself?
Webroot asserts that consumers should “always read the privacy policy of any wearable device or fitness tracking app before you use it. If the data storage and security measures outlined in the policy aren’t up to snuff, request a refund and let the manufacturer know why. Periodically reviewing your app’s privacy settings on your phone is also a good practice—just to make sure you’re comfortable with the app’s level of access.” Read more.
What Medical Practices Can Do to Protect My Personal Information
As Experian explains, “Patient trust is at the heart of a successful patient-provider relationship.” Providers should highlight the steps their organization is taking to secure patient data and use secure log-ins to prevent unauthorized access of patient portals. Providers also need to train staff on HIPAA compliance to reduce the risk of human error leading to a data breach. Read more. | About the Author
Julia Merrill Julia created Befriend Your Doc to share tips she has developed to help patients be their own advocate in seeking medical care, dealing with insurance companies, and contributing to their own health and well-being. |
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