Medical and Health Care Industry Careers Grow In Numbers

As the need for medical healthcare in every community arises, career opportunities in the said filed also pitch high as surveys says that there will be more employment opportunities for individuals in the next eight years for the healthcare and medical industry fields.

This year 2012 has pitched a curved ball as far as employment projections go—surprisingly, it has gone against doctors, but not against most everyone else in the healthcare industry.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released in February its employment projections for the next eight years, reporting that four industries will experience rapid job growths by 2020. One of these industries is the healthcare sector, which the bureau expects to create 5.6 million new healthcare jobs by that year.

The U.S. News & World Report ranked the top careers in healthcare, producing the following rankings: registered nurse, pharmacist, medical assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist, clinical laboratory technician, paramedic, and massage therapist.

Medical assistants, often known as medical office assistants—who usually must acquire medical office assistant training (no college degree required) to be considered for hiring—placed top three on the U.S. News list of best healthcare jobs. These professionals work in a range of medical environments including hospitals, doctor’s clinics, rehabilitation centers, and nursing homes. Their principal duties lie in administration, but they also assist with clinical functions.

The BLS forecasts a 30.9-percent increase in jobs by 2020 for medical assistants, with over 162,000 positions added. Of the 155,000 jobs added to the economy in April 2012, 19,000 were created by the booming healthcare industry, reported the BLS.

The health of the healthcare sector was confirmed by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, State University in New York, which projected that more than 4.2 million healthcare jobs would probably added by 2020. The figure stands in contrast to the ambivalence of experts over when the next economic boom may occur, considering the inability of the other industries to match the unexpected growth trajectory of the healthcare industry.

"There have been some concerns that the economy may be headed for a repeat of last year’s spring and summer slowdown. While job gains may indeed hit a lull in the coming months, we do not foresee a sudden upsurge in downsizing activity,” pointed out John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, according to an article from medzilla.com, a career website. “Even with the increased job cuts in consumer products, retail and transportation, the monthly totals remain well below levels that would signal a reversal in the recovery.”

In Texas alone, according to an Employer Needs Assessment Report, medical facilities are projecting a requirement for at least 10,000 employees between now and 2013.

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Dangerous Chemical Exposures Spotted In Different Places by OSHA

As the work-safety watchdog continues to remind contractors and companies to maintain and follow their standards for safety at work, there are still those who are caught violating their standards causing accidents and unnecessary situations at workplaces that compromise the worker’s safety.

Lead is a heavy metal that has a pernicious impact on health for both the young and the old. It’s actually a slow-acting poison (it takes months to years before symptoms manifest themselves) that leads to long-term to lifelong serious physical and mental health problems. In heavy lead poisoning, it is fatal.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties of $45,265 for Heraeus Materials Technology LLC, which it found to have committed several health and safety violations, including allowing some of its workers to be exposed to dangerous high levels of lead and silver at the company's West Conshohocken facility.

Although OSHAcampus.com training—for instance, OSHA 10 and OSHA 30—is now required by many employers, many workers are still exposed to unnecessary worksite hazards, such as the potentially fatal exposure to heavy metals at Heraeus Materials, because of employer negligence, ignorance, or plain disregard of basic safety protocols.

OSHA conducted an inspection in December 2011 after the Pennsylvania Department of Health alerted the U.S. worksite-safety watchdog to possible safety and health violations.

"Lead overexposure is a leading cause of workplace illness that can cause adverse health problems, including brain damage, kidney disease, and harm to the reproductive system," revealed Jean Kulp, the OSHA Allentown Area office director. "It is critically important that Heraeus Materials Technology takes effective steps to monitor, identify, and reduce exposure levels to safeguard its employees' health."

OSHA said that one of the company’s violations was actually a repeat violation involving lead exposure beyond the permissible limit. Heraeus Materials was cited for the same infraction in April 2010. The new citation carries a $27,500 penalty.
Meanwhile, OSHA has reported a bromine overexposure incident in Indiana.

Bromine, a naturally occurring element, was formerly used as a sedative, but that pharmaceutical use has long fallen out of favor. Today bromine is usually found in products intended for agriculture and sanitation, as well as in fire retardants. Because bromine is highly reactive, accidental overexposure to bromine always has serious health and safety repercussions.

OSHA issued 18 serious safety violations with proposed penalties totaling $122,000 against Great Lakes Chemical Corp., a chemical-manufacturing company based in West Lafayette, Indiana for the bromine incident. Following its December 2011 inspection of the company's El Dorado facility, OSHA discovered that Great Lakes Chemical had exposed its workers to the unexpected release of bromine.

The inspection—initiated under the agency's Process Safety Management Covered Chemical Facilities National Emphasis Program, which endeavors to mitigate workplace hazards that can lead to the catastrophic release of highly hazardous chemicals—turned up several process safety-management standard violations.

On the company’s laundry list of violations were: failure to institute procedures to keep levels are correctly established for pressure vessels and piping; failure to correctly direct its process hazard analysis to deal with hazards involved with valves being closed or blocked; and failure to make sure that the compliance audit effectively dealt with procedures to assess the mechanical integrity of pressure vessels and piping.

"By failing to ensure that safeguards are in place, Great Lakes Chemical puts its workers at risk of exposure to bromine, a highly hazardous chemical that can cause severe burns to the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory system," pointed out Carlos Reynolds, OSHA area director in Little Rock.

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Beauty Industry Grows As Tanning Issues Also Grows

The year 2011 has been quite a better year for the salon industry and this 2012 could become an add up positive year for them – despite the fact of the arousing issue against tanning that experts says it is dangerous to one’s health.

Despite improving economic conditions, 2011 still proved to be a hairy escape from the red for a number of industries, including housing and construction. The year, however, turned out to be a good one for the hair-skin-and-nails sector—as well as certainly for all the salon professionals with a cosmetology license.

According to the Professional Salon Industry Haircare Study from Professional Consultants & Resources (PCR), as reported, salon industry services (hair, skin and nails) plus salon retail posted a total revenue growth of $72.41 billion in 2011, a healthy bump of 4.2% over 2010. The total U.S. salon hair-care market segment (services and retail), making up 280,000 salons and barbershops, reported $61.32 billion, growing nearly 3.5%.

“The state of our industry is strong,” declared Cyrus Bulsara, president of PCR, in a said statement. “Economic recovery, looser credit and higher disposable incomes all combined to increase salon visits and frequencies for services, which resulted in better product sales to salons and clients. Hair color, straightening/smoothing and basic cutting and styling services were all major growth drivers, primarily at booth rentals, family/economy chains and men's barbershop chains. Nail care rose a phenomenal 24.5%, the highest on record.”

Other major findings of the study all point to a strong salon industry growth in the coming years:

•    Mega salon stores, such as Ulta and Beauty Brands, recorded steady sales growth all through 2011. Ulta’s 2011 holiday sales took off.
•   Home hairstyling grew, following the trend in past years. New genres and types of styling tools experienced 8-percent growth.
•    Cutting and styling, hair color and straightening/smoothing services were all up: between 3 % to 4.5%.
•    Manufacturer/brand sales of styling products rose by 6%. Specialty products climbed 5 percent.
•    High-end, artistic, independent salons and better booth rentals saw higher salon visits and frequencies in 2011.

Meanwhile, there are more growing pains for the beauty industry.
Hot on the heels of well-publicized studies on the dangers of indoor tanning to health and safety, news says that the hitherto hot alternative to getting that bronzed look, spray-on tan, is simply bad.

Medical experts in dermatology, toxicology, and pulmonary medicine have come to the conclusion after reviewing the literature on dihydroxyacetone (DHA), the principal ingredient in "spray-on" tan, that it can potentially cause genetic changes and DNA damage.

The medical experts, constituted a review panel put together by ABC News to review 10 the most-current publicly available scientific studies on DHA.

"The reason I'm concerned is the deposition of the tanning agents into the lungs could really facilitate or aid systemic absorption—that is, getting into the bloodstream," Dr. Rey Panettieri said. He is a toxicologist and lung specialist at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "These compounds in some cells could actually promote the development of cancers or malignancies."

However, like all the experts ABC News consulted, Panettieri noted that the available scientific literature is limited and more studies should be conducted to arrive at a more substantive understanding of the health-and-safety threat.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for its part, warns consumers on its website: "The use of DHA in 'tanning' booths as an all-over spray has not been approved by the FDA, since safety data to support this use has not been submitted to the agency for review and evaluation."

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Growth of HealthCare Industry

NEWS: Healthcare Posts Excellent Growth Trajectory

A 4.2 million healthcare jobs is projected by Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany by 2020 and according to the Employer Needs Assessment Report, 10k employees are required by medical facilities between now and 2013 in Texas alone.

Of the 155,000 jobs added to the economy in April 2012, 19,000 were created by the booming healthcare industry, reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The health of the healthcare sector was confirmed by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, State University in New York, which projected that more than 4.2 million healthcare training and jobs would probably be added by 2020.

The figure stands in contrast to the ambivalence of experts over when the next economic boom may occur, considering the inability of the other industries to match the unexpected growth trajectory of the healthcare industry.

"There have been some concerns that the economy may be headed for a repeat of last year’s spring and summer slowdown. While job gains may indeed hit a lull in the coming months, we do not foresee a sudden upsurge in downsizing activity,” pointed out John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, according to an article from medzilla.com, a career website. “Even with the increased job cuts in consumer products, retail and transportation, the monthly totals remain well below levels that would signal a reversal in the recovery.”

In Texas alone, according to an Employer Needs Assessment Report, medical facilities are projecting a requirement for at least 10,000 employees between now and 2013.

Read More»

HealthCare Industry for the Next 8 Years

Healthcare Jobs Among the Growth Careers in the Next Eight Years

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the healthcare industry will be one of the four sectors that will experience job growths by 2020. They expect 5.6 million new healthcare jobs by the said year.

This year 2012 has pitched a curved ball as far as employment projections go—surprisingly, it has gone against doctors, but not against most everyone else in the healthcare industry.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released in February its employment projections for the next eight years, reporting that four industries will experience rapid job growths by 2020. One of these industries is the healthcare sector, which the bureau expects to create 5.6 million new healthcare jobs by that year.

The U.S. News & World Report ranked the top careers in healthcare, producing the following rankings: registered nurse, pharmacist, medical assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist, clinical laboratory technician, paramedic, and massage therapist.

Medical assistants, often known as medical office assistants—who usually must acquire medical office assistant training (no college degree required) to be considered for hiring—placed top three on the U.S. News list of best healthcare jobs. These professionals work in a range of medical environments including hospitals, doctor’s clinics, rehabilitation centers, and nursing homes. Their principal duties lie in administration, but they also assist with clinical functions.

The BLS forecasts a 30.9-percent increase in jobs by 2020 for medical assistants, with over 162,000 positions added.

Read More»

Spray On Tan Dangers

COSMETOLOGY NEWS-Hold That Spray-on Tan!

After news about the dangers of indoor tanning, health and safety issues are also being released with spray on tan products. Medical experts has tested different products and discovered that it can be a potential cause of genetic changes and DNA damage.

Getting a tan these days has gotten a bit more difficult it seems. Hot on the heels of well-publicized studies on the dangers of indoor tanning to health and safety, comes news that the hitherto hot alternative to getting that bronzed look, spray-on tan, is just as bad.

The news might impact business in salons offering spray-on tanning, but won’t make a ding on most—not yet anyway. For these businesses the strategy is watchful waiting. And salon professionals with a cosmetology continuing education course credit can breathe a sigh of relief for now.

Medical experts in dermatology, toxicology, and pulmonary medicine have come to the conclusion after reviewing the literature on dihydroxyacetone (DHA), the principal ingredient in "spray-on" tan, that it can potentially cause genetic changes and DNA damage.

The medical experts, according to an article for news.yahoo.com, constituted a review panel put together by ABC News to review 10 the most-current publicly available scientific studies on DHA.

"The reason I'm concerned is the deposition of the tanning agents into the lungs could really facilitate or aid systemic absorption—that is, getting into the bloodstream," Dr. Rey Panettieri told news.yahoo.com. Dr. Panettieri is a toxicologist and lung specialist at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "These compounds in some cells could actually promote the development of cancers or malignancies."

However, like all the experts ABC News consulted, Panettieri noted that the available scientific literature is limited and more studies should be conducted to arrive at a more substantive understanding of the health-and-safety threat.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for its part, warns consumers on its website: "The use of DHA in 'tanning' booths as an all-over spray has not been approved by the FDA, since safety data to support this use has not been submitted to the agency for review and evaluation."

Read More»

Salon Industry Growth - 2011

Cosmetology News: 2011 Salon Industry Posts Robust Growth

2011 may have been a problem or a struggling year for some industry, but not the beauty/cosmetology sector. The beauty industry has been reported to have had a revenue growth of more than $70 billion in the said year.

Despite improving economic conditions, 2011 still proved to be a hairy escape from the red for a number of industries, including housing and construction. The year, however, turned out to be a good one for the hair-skin-and-nails sector—as well as certainly for all the salon professionals with a cosmetology license or cosmetology CE (continuing education) credits.

According to the Professional Salon Industry Haircare Study from Professional Consultants & Resources (PCR), as reported by modernsalon.com, salon industry services (hair, skin, nails) plus salon retail posted a total revenue growth of $72.41 billion in 2011, a healthy bump of 4.2 percent over 2010. The total U.S. salon hair-care market segment (services and retail), making up 280,000 salons and barbershops, reported $61.32 billion, growing nearly 3.5 percent.

“The state of our industry is strong,” declared Cyrus Bulsara, president of PCR, in the article for modernsalon.com. “Economic recovery, looser credit and higher disposable incomes all combined to increase salon visits and frequencies for services, which resulted in better product sales to salons and clients. Hair color, straightening/smoothing and basic cutting and styling services were all major growth drivers, primarily at booth rentals, family/economy chains and men's barbershop chains. Nail care rose a phenomenal 24.5 percent, the highest on record.”

The other major findings of the study all point to a strong salon industry growth in the coming years:

•    Mega salon stores, such as Ulta and Beauty Brands, recorded steady sales growth all through 2011. Ulta’s 2011 holiday sales took off.
•    Home hairstyling grew, following the trend in past years. New genres and types of styling tools experienced 8-percent growth.
•    Cutting and styling, hair color and straightening/smoothing services were all up: between 3 percent to 4.5 percent.
•    Manufacturer/brand sales of styling products rose by 6 percent. Specialty products climbed 5 percent.
•    High-end, artistic, independent salons and better booth rentals saw higher salon visits and frequencies in 2011.

Read More»

Indiana Bromine Poisoning

OSHA NEWS: Bromine Poisoning in Indiana

Great Lakes Chemical Corp has been cited by OSHA with 18 serious health and safety violations after their December 2011 inspection of their El Dorado Facility. After discovering that the company had exposed workers to bromine, more than $120k worth of penalties were proposed.

Bromine, a naturally occurring element, was formerly used as a sedative, but that pharmaceutical use has long fallen out of favor. Today bromine is usually found in products intended for agriculture and sanitation, as well as in fire retardants. Because bromine is highly reactive, accidental overexposure to bromine always has serious health and safety repercussions.

Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued 18 serious safety violations with proposed penalties totaling $122,000 against Great Lakes Chemical Corp., a chemical-manufacturing company based in West Lafayette, Indiana. Following its December 2011 inspection of the company's El Dorado facility, OSHA discovered that Great Lakes Chemical had exposed its workers to the unexpected release of bromine.

OSHA safety training such as OSHA 10 hour training and OSHA 30 hour training is now required by many employers as hiring requisite. Unfortunately, many workers are still needlessly exposed to worksite hazards because of employer or management negligence, ignorance, or plain disregard of legislated safety protocols.

The inspection—initiated under the agency's Process Safety Management Covered Chemical Facilities National Emphasis Program, which endeavors to mitigate workplace hazards that can lead to the catastrophic release of highly hazardous chemicals—turned up several process safety management standard violations.

On the company’s laundry list of violations were: failure to institute procedures to keep levels are correctly established for pressure vessels and piping; failure to correctly direct its process hazard analysis to deal with hazards involved with valves being closed or blocked; and failure to make sure that the compliance audit effectively dealt with procedures to assess the mechanical integrity of pressure vessels and piping.

"By failing to ensure that safeguards are in place, Great Lakes Chemical puts its workers at risk of exposure to bromine, a highly hazardous chemical that can cause severe burns to the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory system," pointed out Carlos Reynolds, OSHA area director in Little Rock.

Read More»

OSHA Citations for Lead Exposure

OSHA Cites Heraeus Materials for Lead Overexposure

Lead is a heavy metal that has a pernicious impact on health for both the young and the old. It’s actually a slow-acting poison (it takes months to years before symptoms manifest themselves) that leads to long-term to lifelong serious physical and mental health problems. In heavy lead poisoning, it is fatal.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties of $45,265 for Heraeus Materials Technology LLC, which it found to have committed several health and safety violations, including allowing some of its workers to be exposed to dangerous high levels of lead and silver at the company's West Conshohocken facility.

Although OSHA safety training—for instance, OSHA 10 and OSHA 30—is now required by many employers, many workers are still exposed to unnecessary worksite hazards, such as the potentially fatal exposure to heavy metals at Heraeus Materials, because of employer negligence, ignorance, or plain disregard of basic safety protocols.

OSHA conducted an inspection in December 2011 after the Pennsylvania Department of Health alerted the U.S. worksite-safety watchdog to possible safety and health violations.

"Lead overexposure is a leading cause of workplace illness that can cause adverse health problems, including brain damage, kidney disease, and harm to the reproductive system," revealed Jean Kulp, the OSHA Allentown Area office director. "It is critically important that Heraeus Materials Technology takes effective steps to monitor, identify, and reduce exposure levels to safeguard its employees' health."

Read More»

OSHA Penalizes Brooklyn Contractor, Warned other New Jersey Construction Companies

A Brooklyn contractor has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) for safety violations after a building structural collapse in Brighton Beach resulted in a worker’s death. Meanwhile, the work-safety watchdog has also issued a call to action to New Jersey construction companies following four serious worker-fall accidents.

OSHA reported that SP&K Construction was erecting a multistory building in November 2011 when the front bays of the third, fourth, and fifth floors suddenly gave way during concrete-pouring operation on the fourth and third floors. In spite of OSHA training—for instance, OSHA 10 hour training and OSHA 30 training—now being required by contractors, many workers are still exposed to unnecessary worksite hazards because of employer negligence, ignorance, or plain disregard of basic safety protocols.

"This employer clearly knew the steel erection was incorrect and unstable, which led to the death of one worker and the hospitalization of four others," lamented Kay Gee, the OSHA area director for Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. "Had proper procedures and safeguards been followed, this fatal collapse could have been prevented."

The OSHA Manhattan Area Office found a basic but critical misstep: the builder failed to maintain the structured stability of the floors during the steel erection process. Significantly, OSHA discovered that the exterior wall framing was not up to specifications to maintain structural stability during the erection process. OSHA also isolated several contributing inadequacies, including: the structural frame was laterally unstable because of inadequate bracing; the exterior walls were out of plumb; nails were used where screws are required; and metal c-joists were not secured as required.

 The proposed penalties totaled $77,880.

A spate of construction worksite accidents in neighboring Northern New Jersey has prompted the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to enjoin construction companies to ensure that workers working six feet off the ground be properly equipped to protect them from falls.

Four worksite falls involving construction employees prompted the OSHA’s call to action: a fall from the roof on a construction site in Bayonne, N.J.; a fall from an aerial lift in Secaucus, N.J; a fall during steel- frame operation in Madison, N.J.; and a fall through a roof into a vat of acid in Clifton, N.J. All accidents are under investigation.

"This is a call to action for every contractor in the state. These incidents are tragic reminders of the dangers posed to workers when they are not adequately protected from fall hazards," said Robert Kulick, the OSHA regional administrator in New York. "Whether working on a roof, a scaffold or in an aerial lift, all workers must have and correctly use the proper equipment to prevent falls."

OSHA emphasized several ways to protect workers from falls: safety net systems, guardrail systems, and personal fall-arrest systems. It also pointed out the importance of safe work practices and thorough training.

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FDA Warns Americans with Mercury-Contained Beauty Products, Says It’s Dangerous to One’s Health

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is warning women to avoid beauty products that contain mercury. FDA said that the toxic metal has been found in soaps, skin-care products, and cosmetics carried by shops that tend to cater to African-American, Latino, Asian, and Middle Eastern clients.

The agency has identified 35 potentially poisonous beauty products, including ones under the brands Crema Aguamary, Diana, Lusco, and Stillman’s which are produced in other countries and sold illegally in the U.S.

Many professional cosmetologists across the country—such as those who have in Kentucky with a Kentucky Cosmetology CE are familiar with the issue of hazardous ingredients and other potentially toxic substances in certain cosmetology products.  Exposure to a sufficient amount of mercury can damage internal organs. “It can damage the kidneys and the nervous system, and interfere with the development of the brain in unborn children and very young children,” pointed out Dr. Charles Lee, a senior medical adviser at the FDA.

In fact, just inhaling the products can cause harm. The U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission warned that breathing mercury vapor can cause nerve damage. Symptoms include tremors, changes in vision or hearing, and numbness in the hands and feet. Mercury poisoning can also cause emotional damage, with memory problems, depression, and irritability as common symptoms.

Meanwhile, the latest research by Organic Monitor has found that few brands touting their cosmetics as “natural” and “organic” are living up to their claims.

Organic Monitor surveyed more than 50 cosmetic brands and ranked them by their degree of “naturalness.” Not surprisingly, the study discovered that the majority of formulations do not bear out their marketing claims. For instance, products that claim to be 100-percent natural had synthetic preservatives, emollients, and surfactants. Some brands with “natural” claims were conventionally formulated, while several organic cosmetics failed altogether to meet natural standards.

However, the study did show that products certified by a recognized agency received the highest ranking. Although, some products contain certified organic ingredients, the formulations still have synthetic ingredients not common to natural and organic products.

Organic Monitor promotes the role of natural or organic certification to finding continuity to the industry with rigorous standards and guidelines on allowed natural formulation processes and ingredients. Organic Monitor encourages companies to become certified and establish trust with consumers by helping them distinguish a truly natural product from a falsely labeled one.

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ICD-10 Gathers Supporting Platforms from DST Health Solutions

Care-Management Suite Supports ICD-10 Compliance, Three Myths About ICD-10
With the challenges of ICD-10 code set in mind, DST Health Solutions recently released its PowerSTEPP, PowerMHC, PowerMHS, and AMISYS Advance core administration platforms—all designed to support ICD-10 compliance, including both ICD-9 and ICD-10 processing, the new focus and controversial area of concern for providers of medical coding online training and medical coding online courses.

"Our team has really gone the extra mile to ensure that our systems support ICD-10 compliance and remain flexible," noted Steve Sabino, DST Health Solutions president. "Our system configuration allows clients to effectively manage their operations based on their business needs and market demands, rather than on the limitations of their claims processing systems."

DST Health Solutions offers a suite of clinical and administrative solutions in the industry that is recognized in the industry as among the most comprehensive. DST's integrated care management suite is cross-core platform, able to seamlessly integrate with any claims administrative system.

According to DST Health Solutions, its integrated care management suite touts the following advantages for its users:

It lessens potential ICD-10 problems by scrupulously maintaining all the customer’s current configuration edits. It makes available standardized claims and benefits edits to support ICD-9 and ICD-10 code sets. It supports new financial and clinical reimbursement models that are expected to arise with the introduction of date-parameter-driven ICD-9 and ICD-10.

Meanwhile, despite the one-year deferment of the ICD-10 implementation to October 1, 2014, the new code set is for all intents and purposes the quasi-reality now in the medical sector and in the medical coding community.  Some myths, however, are associated with ICD-10 codes that might derail some users and even providers of medical coding online training and medical coding online courses

Myth 1: Users can procrastinate a little bit more before adopting ICD-10 codes because the ICD-10 training can take only a couple of weeks.

Reality: It is impossible for anyone, medical facility or medical practice, to train its employees on the ICD-10 coding system in such a very short duration. ICD-10 has some 155,000 codes in all.

Myth 2: Because ICD-10 involves of tens of thousands of new codes, it is nearly impossible to go for ICD-10 implementation.

Reality: True, ICD-10 consists of a huge number of old and new codes and it is more extensive than ICD-9, but it is implementable, not the least because it holds big benefits for medical practitioners. Among these are: ICD-10 is more specific, more accurate, and better structured than ICD-9; ICD-10 makes tracking down codes a lot easier and faster than ICD-9.

Myth 3: ICD-10 was initiated way back in 1993, hence many codes are already out-of-date.


Reality: Wrong. ICD-10 was designed to take in incremental changes. In fact, there already have been several revisions in codes since 1993 to accommodate developments in the field. These incremental changes will continue until the healthcare community decides to freeze the codes.

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AMA Wants ICD-10 To Be Delayed by Two Years, Texas Docs Ready for ICD-11

The American Medical Association (AMA) has urged the federal government to defer by at least two years its plan to move the compliance date of ICD-10 by one year, to Oct. 1, 2013. "A two-year delay of the compliance deadline for ICD-10 is a necessary first step," AMA officials said in a May 10 letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) acting administrator, Marilyn B. Tavenner.

The urging came hot on the heels of the statement of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) in a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) secretary Kathleen Sebelius, saying HHS’s proposed one-year deferment of the ICD-10 compliance date was the perfect “middle ground.”

For many medical facilities and practices, as well as for providers of billing and coding online training, the proposed one-year delay in the implementation of ICD-10 allows for time to transition to the new code set. But it isn’t enough for many—or even necessary.

Significantly, AMA proposed in its letter that CMS put into play a process involving all stakeholders (including doctors, regulators, healthcare information technology professionals, medical coders, and administrators) to arrive at an alternative code set that is more appropriate and easier to implement than ICD-10. If no alternative is found, AMA wants ICD-10 postponed indefinitely.

AMA contended that doctors will fail to cope with the comprehensive financial and administrative burdens of a transition to ICD-10 even as they contend with “a number of inadequately aligned” federal programs and a proposed 31-percent Medicare reimbursement cut tentatively set for Jan. 1, 2013.
   
The Texas Medical Association, meanwhile, has joined AMA in calling on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for an alternative to ICD-10—or for its scrapping altogether. Its contention is based on its central fear that the new diagnostic code set "will introduce great cost ... without a corresponding benefit."

The Texas group, for instance, has proposed that HHS either hold off until ICD-11 is ready (under development and will not be completed till 2015) or adopt a ready alternative, such as the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms, or Snomed CT, clinical coding system.

Like AMA, the group requested the HHS to push the compliance deadline by "a period of greater than one year" if it is to implement ICD-10 at all.

"The United States did not adopt the ICD-10 coding system 20 years ago when the standard was state-of-the-art," pointed out Dr. C. Bruce Malone, the Texas Medical Association president. "Now, it's nearing obsolescence."

Malone also said, HHS "should recognize that the costs of going to ICD-11 directly are less than incurring the remaining costs of implementing ICD-10 in 2014 and then implementing ICD-11 sometime soon thereafter."

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OSHA Charges Cleveland Contractors and Zamzo for Safety Violations

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has determined that Cleveland Cement Contractors Inc. had committed six serious safety violations, including noncompliance with design and construction standards, after the worksite-safety watchdog’s investigation of the partial collapse of a second-floor parking garage during concrete-placement operation in December last year. The collapse, fortunately, only caused sprains and strains in several workers. OSHA has proposed fines totaling $38,000.

Cleveland Cement Contractors Inc. specializes in parking garages and other cast-in-place concrete structures.

Despite OSHA training such as OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30 course now being required by contractors, many workers are still exposed to unnecessary worksite hazards because of employer negligence, ignorance, or plain disregard of basic safety protocols.

"Contractors are responsible for knowing and following recognized construction standards, and ensuring that all proper precautions are taken on job sites to prevent workers from being injured," pointed out Howard Ebertsthe, the OSHA area director in Cleveland. "OSHA is committed to protecting workers on the job."

Among the violations that OSHA found were: failure to properly design, construct, and maintain concrete forming and shoring; failure to prevent eccentric loading of shoring stringers; failure to secure shoring stringers to shoring heads; failure to sufficiently inspect forming and shoring before and through concrete placement; failure to guard all protruding reinforcing steel; and failure to ensure that workers use face protection while operating a pneumatic hose.

Meanwhile OSHA has proposed penalties totaling $45,000 for Zamco Inc., a cabinetry company in St. Hedwig, Texas, for 14 safety and health violations involving electrical, respiratory, and other work hazards. OSHA's San Antonio Area office sent in an inspection team this February as part of the agency's Site-Specific Targeting Program for enterprises deemed prone to have high injury and illness rates.
"This is not the first time that this employer has jeopardized the safety of its workers by exposing them to preventable hazards," lamented Jeff Funke, OSHA's area director in San Antonio. "It is the employer's responsibility to provide a safe and healthful workplace."

OSHA reported that Zamco committed a number of serious violations, including: failure to properly protect electrical wiring in the spray booth area; failure to provide machine guarding around equipment, for instance, an automated clamp carrier; failure to carry out an effective respiratory protection program; failure to give lockout/tagout procedures for power sources and to train workers on those procedures; and failure to make sure that work areas are free from saw-dust accumulation, which is combustible.

In addition, OSHA discovered a repeat violation: Zamco’s failure  to ensure that the disconnect panel boxes are accessible. The company was cited for a similar violation in 2010.

OSHACampus.com provides OSHA training online coursework to keep workers informed of work-specific dangers and worksite hazards.

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Legislation Has Been Introduced To Freeze Tanning Salons

In the wake of findings by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) of the health dangers of tanning and the recent backlash from the child-endangerment case of a New Jersey mother who allegedly took her 5-year-old daughter to a tanning booth, indoor tanning is getting bad press lately.

According to the CDC, the incidence rates of melanoma (a deadly form of skin cancer) are rising and are particularly high among young white women. The CDC has warned the public that indoor tanning before age 35 causes the risk for melanoma to spike by an alarming 75 percent, a figure first arrived at by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2009. In the same year, WHO determined that indoor tanning beds are carcinogenic (cancer-causing).

Professional cosmetologists—such as those who have, for instance, a Kentucky Cosmetology CE or a Wisconsin Cosmetology CE—are apprised of the health issues associated with certain substances, tools, and procedures, including tanning, in cosmetology class. Unfortunately, tanning warnings are being ignored and legislation might be necessary to ensure compliance.

The health risks notwithstanding, tanning salons are very popular in the United States. Based on data from IBISWorld, an industry research organization, nearly 22,000 tanning salons now serve an estimated 28 million customers.
Minors are especially vulnerable to the dangers of indoor tanning, a fact that fueled the public indignation over the tanning case involving the mother and her young child.

According to Dr. Kara Shah, the medical director for the Division of Pediatric Dermatology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, tanning beds produce UVA and UVB rays that can easily affect any exposed skin and mucous membranes, including the eyes. In fact, some tanning beds deliver 10 to 15 times more intense UV rays than the sun does between its peak hours, said Dr. Melissa King, a pediatrician at Dayton Children’s Medical Center.

Legislation has now been introduced in Ohio that would prohibit minors who are below age 18 and who lack a doctor’s prescription from using a tanning bed.
Indoor tanning among minors has raised legal concerns, too.

At present, said Aim at Melanoma, a cancer research nonprofit organization, there are 33 states with tanning restrictions for minors. Ohio and Pennsylvania are already considering introducing legislation that bars minors below 18 years old from using tanning booths.

The restrictions are a problem for many salons, considering that for some the 18-and-below group constitutes a big percentage of their clientele. Lisa Ferguson, an Ohio salon owner, said about 40 percent of her clients are below 18.

Some salons, however, are jumping the gun to be on the safe side.

Jes Bruen, a Pennsylvania tanning-and-nail salon owner, said in an interview for republicanherald.com: "Here at Sun Seekers, if they're under 18, we personally have a parent sign to get permission. They won’t be able to tan if we don't have that permission slip."

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