California hospitals are a critical element within the disaster medical response system and work collaboratively with local government, other health care providers and other agencies to plan, prepare for and respond to the needs of victims of natural or man-made disasters, bioterrorism, and other public health emergencies. Hospital emergency preparedness is a priority for government at all levels, as well as a key focus of regulatory and accrediting agencies.
CHA’s Disaster Planning for California Hospitals Conference, to be held Sept. 18-20 in Sacramento, will provide an inside look at the recent shooting at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center in New York. Sridhar S. Chilimuri, MD, FACP, AGAF, physician-in-chief and chairman, Department of Medicine for Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center, will recount how hospital staff performed heroically under duress, saving all six of the wounded. “Timely action is what saved lives that day,” Chilimuri said.
Almost all of the nation’s hospital IT executives are concerned about the security of their patients’ data, according to a recent survey. When it comes to the security of health care data, Southern California’s in the same boat as the rest of the country. Read full article here.
A joint effort by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; this Guidance is for safe handling of solid waste contaminated with a Category A infectious substance and the proper management of inactivated Category A waste materials in the United States.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a new Appendix Z of the State Operations Manual (SOM), which contains interpretive guidelines and survey procedures for the emergency preparedness final rule. The new rule affects 17 providers and suppliers; Appendix Z applies to all 17 providers and suppliers included in the final rule. The advance copy of the interpretive guidelines can be downloaded from the CMS website.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated its website with information to assist providers and suppliers in complying with its new emergency preparedness final rule. The information specifically addresses the rule’s training and testing requirement, one of four standards providers and suppliers must meet. CMS encourages providers and suppliers to participate in a full-scale, community-based exercise with their local and/or state emergency agencies and to have completed a tabletop exercise before the new requirements are implemented on Nov. 15. More information can be found in the attached memo; questions should be directed to scgemergencyprep@cms.hhs.gov.
