Healthcare facilities in California have been required to adhere to mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios since 2004. These ratios vary depending upon the degree of patient care involved. More recently, Massachusetts passed a law requiring mandatory staffing minimums in the state’s ICU’s. Other states are considering jumping on the bandwagon. A California-like bill is currently pending in … Continue Reading
Title IV of the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (HCQIA), created the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). The NPDB is a national clearinghouse and repository of information on medical malpractice payments and adverse actions taken against licensed healthcare providers. Hospitals and health systems with formal peer review are among the entities required to … Continue Reading
ICE and CPB consider hospitals and other healthcare facilities to be sensitive locations where enforcement actions should be avoided without prior approval or unless there are exigent circumstances. Despite that policy, undocumented aliens continue to be arrested at medical facilities where they are receiving treatment or where they have accompanied ailing family members. Since the sensitive … Continue Reading
Disruptive physicians are staple characters on television shows about the medical field. Some of the most recent T.V. doctors of this vein that come to mind are Dr. Gregory House of House and Dr. Perry Cox of Scrubs. While Dr. House and Dr. Cox present entertaining caricatures of disruptive physician behavior (“DPB”), in “real life” … Continue Reading
As we have just survived one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory, now is a good time to consider whether you should implement or revise a mandatory flu shot policy for 2018. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all United States healthcare workers obtain annual flu vaccines. While many healthcare employers … Continue Reading
Nurses had no right to union representation in their hospital employer’s peer review committee proceedings, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled. Midwest Division – MMC, LLC, dba Menorah Medical Center v. NLRB, No. 15-1312 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 18, 2017). The Court, however, found the hospital violated the National Labor … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had issued guidance on ransomware attack prevention and recovery from a healthcare sector perspective in July 2016. The importance of these measures was highlighted by the recent worldwide ransomware, “WannaCry,” attack that caused major disruption to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service and cancellation of operations. Learn … Continue Reading
A Boston hospital reasonably accommodated an employee’s religious objections to its influenza vaccination program by offering alternatives, but exempting the employee from the vaccination requirement would impose an undue hardship on the hospital because of the risk of infection to patients, a federal court in Massachusetts has concluded, granting the hospital’s motion for summary judgment … Continue Reading
A respiratory therapist can proceed with her civil rights claims because questions remain about whether her hospital employer intended to honor a patient’s request that he not be treated by black employees, a federal court has ruled. Caprice McCrary v. Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., C.A. No. 14-14053 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 16, 2016). Caprice McCrary, an African-American, … Continue Reading
Where a former female employee showed a hospital imposed lesser disciplinary action upon male employees for infractions similar to the one that led to her discharge, her sex discrimination claims can proceed, a federal appeals court has ruled, reversing summary judgment for the hospital. Jackson v. VHS Detroit Receiving Hospital, Inc., No. 15-1802 (6th Cir. … Continue Reading
A federal court in Ohio has dismissed Family and Medical Leave Act and disability discrimination claims filed by a nurse who was caught sleeping while on duty and fired. Lasher v. Medina Hosp., et al., C.A. No. 1:15CV00005 (N.D. Ohio Feb. 5, 2016). The court found the hospital had a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for terminating … Continue Reading
A federal court in Texas has dismissed a nurse’s disability discrimination and retaliation claims because she failed to establish she was qualified to perform the duties of her position with or without reasonable accommodation even after the EEOC found the employer’s six-month cap on leaves of absence violated the American with Disabilities Act. Salem v. … Continue Reading
The Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS OIG), the American Health Lawyers Association, the Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors and the Health Care Compliance Association have released a joint educational resource to assist governing boards of health care organizations in carrying out their compliance plan oversight obligations. This new resource … Continue Reading
OSHA’s recent update to its Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers may be of particular interest to healthcare employers. Additional information about these updated guidelines can be found in this post on the Jackson Lewis OSHA Law Blog.… Continue Reading
A hospital’s newly implemented dress code policy was a material, substantial, and significant change to union employees’ terms and conditions of employment that required bargaining with the union, the NLRB has ruled. Salem Hospital Corp., 360 NLRB No. 95 (Apr. 30, 2014). The hospital maintained a dress code policy, which allowed employees wide latitude to determine … Continue Reading
A nursing home’s policy prohibiting off-duty employees from remaining on its premises after their shift “unless previously authorized by” their supervisor interfered with the labor rights of employees, the NLRB has ruled. Piedmont Gardens, 360 NLRB No. 100 (May 1, 2014). The union filed unfair labor practice charges against the employer, alleging among other things, … Continue Reading
The following post from our colleagues at the Jackson Lewis P.C. Workplace Privacy, Data Management & Security Report may be of particular interest to healthcare employers. Click here to be transferred directly to the link.… Continue Reading
A new law has taken effect in New York State prohibiting smoking within 15 feet of a hospital or residential health care facility entrance or exit. The law specifically permits smoking by “a patient or a visitor or guest of a patient of a residential health care facility” in a specially designated area on the … Continue Reading
A nursing home’s policy of accommodating only restrictions from work-related incidents could be pretext for pregnancy discrimination, a federal appeals court ruled, reversing summary judgment in favor of the nursing home. Jennifer Latowski v. Northwoods Nursing Center, No. 12-2408 (6th Cir. Dec. 23, 2013). After learning that a nursing assistant was pregnant, the nursing home … Continue Reading
A hospital violated the National Labor Relations Act when it changed its dress policy without first giving the union representing its nurses an opportunity to bargain and by failing to provide information the union requested regarding the policy, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge has found in Salem Hospital Corporation a/k/a The Memorial Hospital of Salem County, Case No. 04-CA-097635 (Sept. 10, 2013).… Continue Reading
A resolution adopted by the Nurse Alliance Leadership Council of SEIU Healthcare opposing mandatory flu vaccine and masking policies may add another challenge to healthcare employers seeking to implement such requirements.… Continue Reading
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled in Noel Canning v. NLRB et al., Nos. 12-1115 and 12-1153 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 25, 2013), that President Obama’s “Recess Appointments” of three new NLRB members in January 2012 were unconstitutional and, as a result, the Board lacked any constitutional authority to … Continue Reading
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), also known as Obamacare, all nursing facilities and skilled nursing facilities must have a compliance and ethics program that contains certain statutorily-required elements by March 23, 2013. The program must be effective in preventing and detecting criminal, civil, and administrative violations under PPACA and … Continue Reading
