Medicare To Punish 2,225 Hospitals For Excess Readmissions

As workers' compensation medical costs rise, the quality of care is a focus for Medicare. Medicare is focussing on hospital re-admissions in an effort to improve care and lower costs. This may have a trickle down effect on workers' compensation costs. Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from www.kaiserhealthnews.org

Medicare will levy $227 million in fines against hospitals in every state but one for the second round of the government’s campaign to reduce the number of patients readmitted within a month, according to federal records released Friday.

Medicare identified 2,225 hospitals that will have payments reduced for a year starting on Oct. 1. Eighteen hospitals will lose 2 percent, the maximum possible and double the current top penalty.
Another 154 will lose 1 percent or more of every payment for a patient stay, the records show.

The young and new on job most affected by heat stress: study

Today's post was shared by US Dept. of Labor and comes from www.iwh.on.ca

Study of work-related heat stress finds heat strokes, sun strokes and other heat illnesses spike over groups of days and disproportionately affect those on the job less than two months

On hot, sultry summer days, it’s common to see ministries of labour issue alerts telling workers to stay cool, drink a lot of water and take longer breaks if necessary. Public health officials will also urge people to stay indoors and check in on their elderly neighbours.

If employers were ever to issue a workplace equivalent of such alerts, they should ask workers to keep an eye on their young colleagues—especially the new ones on the job.

According to a study by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) on heat stress, young men working in manual occupations are most vulnerable to extreme heat. The more inexperienced they are on the job, the more likely they are to need time off work to recover from heat stroke, sun stroke, fainting and other forms of heat illnesses.

Garlock testimony switches to financial liability

Asbestos companies have for decades attempted to limit their personal injury claims liability by filing for bankruptcy protection. The Union Asbestos and Rubber Company and Johns Manville were the first in a series of companies who have sough protection. Adequately funding an asbestos personal injury claims trust is essential to protect injured workers and other victims of asbestos disease, ie. asbestosis, lung cancer & mesothelioma. As long as asbestos is not banned in the US, it is critical that these trust adequately compensate the victims and potential victims for decades into the future. 

Today's post was shared by Legal Newsline and comes from legalnewsline.com

Bates

Attorneys transitioned Friday from days of expert testimony on the carcinogenic effects of asbestos and the work practices of attorneys representing asbestos plaintiffs to arguments about how much financial liability Garlock Sealing Technologies should face in the company’s ongoing bankruptcy trial.

Garlock attorneys called on economists to give the court estimates for how much money the company should place in a trust for future mesothelioma victims who might sue the company over exposure to asbestos from their products. Doing so will allow the company to escape bankruptcy.

Health Care Workers Suffer Exposures to Antineoplastic Drugs

A recent study reveals that health care workers may be suffering from occupational exposure to chemotherapy drugs while treating cancer patients.

"Antineoplastic drugs are pharmaceuticals commonly used to treat cancer, which are generally referred to as 'chemotherapy'. Several studies have shown that exposure to antineoplastic drugs can cause toxic effects on reproduction as well as carcinogenic effects. Presence of these drugs in the urine of hospital personnel has been widely studied and dermal exposure has been suggested to be the main route of exposure. 

The main focus has been on handling the concentrated drug during preparation and administration of antineoplastic drugs and several approaches have been proposed on how to control those. Handling patient excreta has been considered to be potentially harmful to nurses working with cancer patients, since antineoplastic drugs are known to be present in patient excreta (e.g. urine, saliva, sweat, faeces, vomit), but this has not been studied in great detail in occupational exposure studies. 

The identification of occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs in sectors outside the hospital environment (i.e. veterinary medicine, home care, nursing homes and industrial laundries) showed that the number of workers potentially exposed to antineoplastic drugs is larger than previously estimated. "

Click here to read the series of articles in The Annals of Occupational Hygiene

Exposure to Antineoplastic Drugs in Two UK Hospital Pharmacy Units 
H. J. Mason, S. Blair, C. Sams, K. Jones, S. J. Garfitt, M. J. Cuschieri, and P. J. Baxter 

A Pooled Analysis to Study Trends in Exposure to Antineoplastic Drugs among Nurses 
Wouter Fransman, Susan Peelen, Simone Hilhorst, Nel Roeleveld, Dick Heederik, and Hans Kromhout 

Occupational Dermal Exposure to Cyclophosphamide in Dutch Hospitals: A Pilot Study 
Wouter Fransman, Roel Vermeulen, And Hans Kromhout 

Postulating a dermal pathway for exposure to anti-neoplastic drugs among hospital workers 
Hans Kromhout, Fred Hoek, Ruud Uitterhoeve, Roel Huijbers, Roderik F. Overmars, Rob Anzion, and Roel Vermeulen 

Occupational Exposure Limits for Therapeutic Substances 
Raymond Agius 

Read more about "occupational exposures" and workers' compensation:

Workers' Compensation: OSHA Targets Occupational Exposure to ...

Jul 12, 2013

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced a new National Emphasis Program to protect workers from the serious health effects from occupational exposure to isocyanates. OSHA develops national ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Chemical Exposure: Devastating ...

Jun 03, 2013

Chemical exposure in the workplace can have an insidious--yet devasating--effect on a worker. In a wide-ranging article, the New York Times presented an in-depth view of chemical exposure at furniture factories in North ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Occupational Safety and Health ...

Jul 19, 2013

Workers' compensation claims result from heat stress and exposure. As the Mid-West and Northeast heatwave is now soaring to records temperatures, workers should protect themselves from heat exposure. Today's post was ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

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Cyclospora Outbreak Solved: Mexcian/California Salad Sold in Darden Restaurant Chain

The cause of the widespread (4000 more cases) infectious disease outbreak causing Cyclospora has been traced to a restaurant chain selling salad distributed by a Mexican and Salinas, CA based company.

"The salad mix identified in Cyclospora outbreak investigations in Iowa and Nebraska came from a Mexican company that processes foodservice salad, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today in an outbreak update.

The FDA said its trace-back investigation found that the salad mix that Iowa and Nebraska officials linked to the outbreak was supplied to restaurants in those states by a common supplier, Taylor Farms de Mexico, S de RL de CV. It added that its investigation has not implicated consumer packages sold in grocery stores.

The restaurants linked to the clusters include Olive Garden and Red Lobster outlets, both of which chains are owned by Darden Restaurants, FDA spokeswoman Theresa Eisenman told CIDRAP News.

Click here to read to complete article: FDA: Salad cited in Cyclospora cases came from Mexican supplier

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• Largest Study to Date Finds State Smoke-Free Laws Would Not Hurt Restaurant and Bar Business

Largest Study to Date Finds State Smoke-Free Laws Would Not Hurt Restaurant and Bar Business

Smoking is a major cause of disease and workers' compensation claims. Tobacco usage in restaurants and bars is a danger to both the employees and the guests. Banned in some jurisdictions, this study confirms that prohibiting smoking in restaurants and bars is not an economic detriment to businesses. Today's post was shared by RWJF PublicHealth and comes from www.cdcfoundation.org

A study conducted by RTI International in nine states concludes that statewide smoke-free laws would not be expected to have an adverse economic impact on restaurants and bars in these states. The study, which was supported by the CDC Foundation, was released today in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

The findings of the new analysis are consistent with the results of previous peer-reviewed studies. However, this study (www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2013/12_0327.htm) is unique in that it is the largest of its kind, aggregating all the available data from local jurisdictions in the studied states.

Occupations with the largest job growth

Today's jobs report shows once again that there is no growth in the manufacturing sector. The trend in job creation over the next decade is aimed totally at the aging population: Registered Nurses, Home Health Aides and Personal Care Aides. The traditional injuries over the past century brought before workers' compensation program will be changing from manufacturing to health care services. The high union wages/rates will be changed and adapted to lower paying positions with lower wages/rates of compensation being paid. Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.bls.gov

This table also can be found in the article, "Occupational Employment Projections to 2020," published in the January 2012 MonthlyLabor Review.

Other available formats: [XLS]Table 1.4: Occupations with the most job growth, 2010 and projected 2020

(Numbers in thousands)

00-0000	Total, All Occupations	143,068.2	163,537.1	20,468.9	14.3	$33,840
29-1111	Registered Nurses	2,737.4	3,449.3	711.9	26.0	64,690
41-2031	Retail Salespersons	4,261.6	4,968.4	706.8	16.6	20,670
31-1011	Home Health Aides	1,017.7	1,723.9	706.3	69.4	20,560
39-9021	Personal Care Aides	861.0	1,468.0	607.0	70.5	19,640
43-9061	Office Clerks, General	2,950.7	3,440.2	489.5	16.6	26,610
35-3021	Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food	2,682.1	3,080.1	398.0	14.8	17,950
43-4051	Customer Service Representatives	2,187.3	2,525.6	338.4	15.5	30,460
53-3032	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	1,604.8	1,934.9	330.1	20.6	37,770
53-7062	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	2,068.2	2,387.3	319.1	15.4	23,460
25-1000	Postsecondary Teachers	1,756.0	2,061.7	305.7	17.4	45,690
31-1012	Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants	1,505.3	1,807.2	302.0	20.1	24,010
39-9011	Childcare Workers	1,282.3	1,544.3	262.0	20.4	19,300
43-3031	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	1,898.3	2,157.4	259.0	13.6	34,030
41-2011	Cashiers	3,362.6	3,612.8	250.2	7.4	18,500
25-2021	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education	1,476.5	1,725.3	248.8	16.8	51,660
43-4171	Receptionists and Information Clerks	1,048.5	1,297.0	248.5	23.7	25,240
37-2011	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	2,310.4	2,556.8	246.4	...

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