Environmental Training Options

Environmental awareness training courses are not all created equally. Everyone has a difference of opinion about what they like, what they expect from their classes, and which types of programs are best for their needs. Online training and traditional classes have been in a tug-of-war of sorts for some time now, and having to negotiate between the two can prove to be a daunting task if you don’t know what you’re getting into. Take the time to check out both options and you should have no trouble finding the perfect career training for your needs.

Online classes and traditional classes have a lot of differences and reasons that they work. Here are some of the things that might help in your decision making process for your environmental training program:

-Online courses are flexible and convenient. You can learn on your time, at your own pace, and without the hassles of a traditional classroom. Getting online training allows you to make the most of your career training without having to do it on someone else’s time.

-Traditional classes aren’t only more expensive, but they can cost valuable time and resources, as well. People who are looking to get to work in their environmental careers or who are simply getting a few CE credits need to get the training that they need so that they can move on, no matter which types of environmental careers they have chosen.

-Online training courses for environmental careers allow people to get the education that they need from the comfort of home. They don’t have to rearrange their schedule, take time off work, or deal with other hassles of traditional training programs. They can just get the training that they need when they need it, and be done with it.

These are some important differences to consider when you are looking for the best environmental training programs. Online courses are becoming quite the norm because of their flexibility and ease of use, and you should check them out when you are looking to make the most of your career, as well. It’s all about getting the training that you need, no matter what that means to you. Take the time to weigh your options and figure out which career training path is best for you and your environmental career. As long as you find the solution that suits your needs, nothing else really matters in the end.

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Environmental Training- Getting Certified Online

When you are looking for environmental training resources, you can find them just about everywhere. One of the best and most convenient types of training programs will be found online. The providers that offer career training over the internet have created a way for more people to get the professional careers that they have been looking for with less effort and time spent on training. This provides people with a variety of benefits and advantages over taking traditional training courses, allowing them to get to work faster and spend less time on their education.

Online environmental training programs are not all created equally. You will want to make sure that you check out your available options and find the career that you have been looking for, no matter what that might mean to you. Make sure that you give yourself a chance to find the best online training providers so that you can get the training that you need quickly and efficiently from the top training programs online. After all, getting a quick and easy education isn’t nearly as important as getting the right education for your career. Environmental careers are growing rapidly, and you need to make sure that you get trained so that you can become a valuable prospective employee to any company who needs your skills.

Environmental training courses are going to provide you with a more flexible and accessible way to get the career training that you need when you choose to pursue them online. With so many different options to consider and things to think about, it may seem more difficult than it really is to get the career training that you are looking for. Just take the time to think about the different opportunities that you have and find the training resources that suit your needs best.

Everyone has different ideas about career training and what is expected of them. If you take the time to figure out what you expect and what you think online training can do for you, you’ll generally have an easier time finding training programs and choosing the one that you want to use. It’s all about being prepared and informed, but as long as you do your homework online training can save you time, money, and hassle in your career training experience. Keep these things in mind while you are searching for your career training programs and your environmental career will be easier to obtain than you might have expected.

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ICD-10 Deadline Is On October 1, 2014

HHS Announces One-Year Delay for ICD-10

It’s now official—well, almost. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced this April that it’s proposing a one-year delay in the compliance date for the new ICD-10 diagnosis coding system. The new deadline is October 1, 2014.

The delay gives more time for many in the medical community—mostly medical facilities and practices, but also providers of medical coding training—to prepare for ICD-10. 

In a statement, HHS emphasized that "some provider groups have expressed serious concerns about their ability to meet the October 1, 2013 compliance date."  Specifically, these groups took issue with a new standardized health claims form, the co-called Version 5010, for electronic health transactions, which needs to be implemented first before ICD-10 can be used.

"HHS believes the change in the compliance date for ICD-10, as proposed in this rule, would give providers and other covered entities more time to prepare and fully test their systems to ensure a smooth and coordinated transition among all industry segments," the statement said.

The health information technology firms, which had been pushing hard to meet the original deadline, were disappointed with the announcement. "I haven't talked to anyone who isn't extremely disappointed," lamented Susan Heichert, RN, chief information officer at Allina Hospital and Clinics in St. Paul, Minn.
HHS emphasized that it in fact considered several alternatives to ICD-10, including skipping ahead to ICD-11. It has bared in a statement some of its major reasons for the postponement.

“Provider groups have expressed strong concern about their ability to meet the October 1, 2013 compliance date and the serious claims payment issues that might then ensue," HHS explained. “Some providers' concerns about being able to meet the ICD-10 compliance date are based, in part, on difficulties they have had meeting HHS' compliance deadline for 5010 standards [Version 5010] for electronic health care transactions. We believe the change in the compliance date for ICD-10, as proposed in this rule, would give providers and other covered entities more time to prepare and fully test their systems to ensure a smooth and coordinated transition by all industry segments.”

HHS cited a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) survey which found that a fourth of providers said they would not be ready for ICD-10 by October 1, 2013, and a Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) survey result which indicated that almost 50 percent of the 2,140 providers who responded to the survey said they were uncertain when they would complete their impact assessment. HHS estimated that ICD-10 will cost commercial and government health organizations between $650 million and $1.3 billion, adding that “a 1-year delay of the ICD-10 compliance date would add 10 to 30 percent to the total cost that these entities have already spent or budgeted for the transition."

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Cleanup Operations with OSHA in Texas, one Ohio Automotive Company Fined

OSHA Compliance Assistance to Texas Recovery Workers, Fines for Ohio Company

As the tornado season swirls in this year, touching down early this April with a rash of twisters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has enjoined employers, recovery workers, and the public to always put safety and caution first during cleanup operations. The work-safety watchdog is on the ground offering compliance assistance to workers and members of the public who are involved in recovery and cleanup efforts so they can properly deal with the hazards they may encounter.

OSHA courses, such as OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30 training (both online OSHA training), are now required by many employers when hiring; they provide excellent orientation on the essential protocols to follow to steer clear of hazards during post-disaster operations.

"Our main concern is the safety of the workers conducting cleanup activities. Our Dallas and Fort Worth compliance assistance staff are on the ground in affected areas providing assistance," informed John Hermanson, the OSHA regional administrator in Dallas. "Workers are exposed to a wide array of hazards during storm recovery efforts that can be minimized by knowledge, safe work practices and the use of personal protective equipment."

OSHA noted that common hazards associated with cleanup work are burns, lacerations, downed electrical wires, electrical shocks from portable generators, heat exhaustion, carbon monoxide poisoning, fell and struck-by dangers from tree-trimming or working at heights, and illness from exposure to contaminated water or food. The agency also pointed out the following dangers to watch out for: being caught in unprotected excavations or confined spaces, exposure to dangerous materials, and being struck by traffic or heavy equipment.

OSHA is reminding employers to provide their workers the necessary protective gear and training to carry out safe and healthful recovery and cleanup operations. OSHA is also apprising employers that work safety is simple: Provide proper safety training and have personnel wear protective gear. But all across America employers continue to put their workers in danger because of negligence or plain ignorance. 

Ohio-based automotive-parts company American Showa Inc., for instance, recently received 13 safety and health violations, including two willful violations, from OSHA for putting personnel to work on energized equipment sans protective gear, and for neglecting to educate workers on unsafe electrical work practices. The company is now looking at a total of $151,300 in proposed fines.

"American Showa is responsible for ensuring that its employees wear personal protective equipment and receive proper training on electrical safety hazards to prevent injuries in its manufacturing plant," emphasized Bill Wilkerson, the OSHA area director in Cincinnati. "OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so."

According to OSHA, the willful safety violations are the company’s twin failures to orient workers on safe electrical working practices for voltage testing and to provide the required personal protective equipment. Among the serious safety violations that OSHA found were: failure to provide adequate machine guarding; failure to make sure that workers locked out all energy sources while doing repairs inside robot enclosures; and failure to de-energize a robot trim press to perform repairs.

 

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OSHA Penalizes Poultry Processor, Contractor for 11 Safety Violations

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was certainly no chicken when it proposed a whopping $187,100 in penalties for 11 safety violations by poultry processor KD Acquisition I LLC (Coleman Natural Foods). The agency launched an investigation after receiving a complaint in September last year over safety concerns.

Although OSHA courses, such as OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30 course (both online OSHA training), are now pre-employment requirements, many workers are still exposed to unnecessary worksite hazards because of negligence or ignorance.
OSHA cited KD Acquisition for two repeat violations for letting untrained workers to work on and operate a conveyor belt system without machine guards, which shield workers from rotating parts, and expelled chips and sparks. The company's KD5 plant in Braselton was similarly cited in 2007.

In addition, OSHA cited the company for eight serious violations involving, among others: failure to give proper safety protection to workers exposed to anhydrous ammonia, a toxic caustic gas; failure to train workers handling hazardous materials; failure to give written lockout/tagout procedures to shut down power equipment; and failure to perform an annual review of procedures to verify their accuracy.

OSHA also found that KD Acquisitions exposed its workers to several electrical hazards and to fall hazards from stairs located close to an unprotected roof edge.
"KD Acquisitions has a history of endangering its workers by exposing them to serious safety and health hazards that must be corrected before a worker is seriously injured," stated William Fulcher, OSHA's Atlanta-East office director.

Meanwhile, for failing to protect its workers from exposure to asbestos, a dangerous and well-known carcinogen in industry and construction, Illinois-based A.M. Castle & Co. received 22 serious health-violation citations from the government work-safety watchdog, following a complaint. A total penalty of $127,600 has been proposed.
"Failing to take proper precautions when removing asbestos puts workers at risk for respiratory and other serious illnesses," explained Diane Turek, the OSHA Chicago North Area Office director. "OSHA is committed to protecting workers on the job, especially when employers fail to do so."

Among the violations: failure to determine the presence, location, and quantity of asbestos-containing material; failure to label and affix warnings on asbestos-containing piping; failure to create a controlled area for asbestos removal; failure to monitor employees and the work area for asbestos exposure during removal operations; and failure to use a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuum during asbestos removal.

OSHA also uncovered the employer’s failure to provide its employees the requisite asbestos awareness training and to supply proper protective clothing and respirators during removal operations.

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Survey Shows Reactions for ICD 10 Benefits, More Medical Coding Jobs and Salary Adjustments

It’s full speed ahead with the ICD-10 implementation plans of many hospitals—and of providers of medical billing and coding training programs—even though the compliance date has been moved back. And hospital CIOs are saying the delay is actually warranted.

A recent survey of hospital CIOs found that 72 percent of the respondents believe that the ICD-10 implementation delay is good for their organizations and that 84 percent plan on moving ahead with their preparations. A number of the CIOs, however, indicated that once the new compliance date is set, they will reassess their positions. Some stated that because of the investments they have already made on ICD-10, it is too late to unmake them.

Still, most of the respondents were unconvinced of the value of the implementation, with 80 percent, according to the survey, saying they found no cost/benefit ratio to ICD-10. Many of the respondents also suggested skipping ICD-10 altogether and implementing ICD-11 instead.

ICD-11 as an alternative landed in the news in March when Christopher Chute, M.D., a biomedical informatics professor at the Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, together with colleagues, suggested in an article in Health Affairs that ICD-11 allowed "more natural classifications" for providers, adding that policy makers should already advance preparations for transitioning to ICD-11.

Even as the industry shifts to another gear following the delay of the ICD-10 compliance date, a survey by consulting firm Integrated Healthcare Strategies showed that 60 percent of hospitals and health systems anticipate staffing adjustments, including the hiring of more coders as indicated by 53.6 percent of the survey respondents.

The survey also revealed that hospital middle management and staff are due for payment increases between 2.6 percent and 2.8 percent this year, while executives are looking at a salary bump of 2.5 percent. According to the survey, almost 90 percent of hospitals and health systems this year are either going to maintain their salary budgets or are increasing them.

The survey said 37.8 percent of the respondents are including physician alignment in their incentive plans. Meeting CMS quality standards, physician use of electronic patient records, and readmission rates are the most common physician alignment goals.

The findings point to the current trend of more medical facilities moving toward more quality incentives that align executives and physicians, according to James Nelson, a managing principal for Sullivan, Cotter and Associates. Nelson made the observation at the annual congress of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) in Chicago.

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ICD 10 Implementation Delay, Push for ICD 11 - SNOMED

Skipping ICD-10 for ICD-11, May Not Be a Good Idea

In the wake of CMS’s decision to delay the ICD-10 implementation, certain quarters, notably medical experts championing Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms or SNOMED, have pushed instead for the community to go straight to ICD-11, skipping ICD-10 entirely. Many problems attend the proposal, not the least the retraining of ICD-10 trainers—for instance, for teaching medical coding online training or medical coding online courses—as ICD-11 trainers.

An article by Rhonda Butler, a senior clinical research analyst for 3M Health Information Systems for healthcarefinancenews.com, however, argues that the U.S. has in fact started implementing ICD-10 some 19 years ago. 

According to Butler, federal agencies inaugurated ICD-10 implementation in 1993 by prepping to develop a clinical tweak to ICD-10—a U.S. version, as it were—then obtaining a grant and assigning a contractor to develop a clinical modification. The same was done for a procedure coding system. 

A thorough iteration of comment periods for both systems, testing of both systems, preliminary crosswalks, pilot studies, cost analysis studies, even the launch of programs to train ICD-10 trainers, among other steps, was conducted through the years. 

In short the medical community can’t afford to skip to ICD-11, contends the article, because it has already spent 19 years getting ready for ICD-10. Too much time, resources, and money have already been spent getting close to ICD-10. Butler says that if it took the industry almost two decades to get that close to ICD-10, what more a more extensive coding system like ICD-11.

While the debates about the new compliance date for ICD-10 roil the medical community, different quarters—including providers of medical coding online training or medical coding online courses—are nevertheless moving forward with their agenda, in line with which side of the fence they’re on. 

The American Hospital Association (AHA), for one, is pushing ahead with its Coding Clinic Audio Conference Series, even while the implementation date of ICD-10 looks uncertain for this year and is looking increasingly more like it will be 2013. AHA is a nonprofit association of health-care provider organizations and individuals with over 5,000 member hospitals, health systems, and other health-care organizations, and 42,000 individual members.

AHA’s upcoming Conference Series consists of live conference broadcasts featuring ICD-10-PCS procedure coding content. 

AHA has announced that first up is “Introduction to the Basics of ICD-10-PCS Procedure Coding,” to be presented on April 18, 2012. The audio conference will introduce key concepts on ICD-10-PCS coding, as well as cover the basics of code selection and explain the Alphabetical Index and Tabular List. 

On May 16, 2012, AHA will present “Understanding ICD-10-PCS Official Coding Guidelines,” which will cover general and ICD-10-PCS Medical Surgical Section coding guidelines. AHA has confirmed that surgical examples applying ICD-10-PCS codes will also be taken up. 

Both live audio conferences will run from 12:00 to 1:45 pm CST.

AHA staff members Nelly Leon-Chisen, RHIA, director, Coding and Classification; Anita Rapier, RHIT, CCS, senior coding consultant; and Gretchen Young-Charles, RHIA, senior coding consultant, will be the presenters for both audio conferences.

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