While many markets have plummeted due to covid-19, one has seen immense growth: the telehealth market. Telehealth has come to be a great alternative for people trying to get medical advice on physical, behavioral, or mental questions. Whether it be a therapist for depression, a physician for a knee discomfort, or concerns and questions about covid, telehealth succeeds in helping all those hypothetical patients. Here are a few ways employers can help employees through telehealth during the pandemic.
Allowing More Access to Telehealth:
While most employers offer their workers telehealth services, it is only to an extent. Allowing employees 24/7 access to medicals experts will increase morale and decrease employee injuries/mental wellness. While these experts can’t do things like diagnose covid or help with physical relief like in-person treatment, these experts can give crucial advice and medical insight into how to deal with these issues/symptoms.
More Communication about COVID:
The more your employees know about the covid disease and the current updates on it, the better. That is why a new study says at least 63% of workers would like their superiors to update them on covid-related info daily. Things such as news on daily stats, local news of covid, and about how medical experts are progressing on prevention.
Financial Incentives for Telehealth:
Just like employees, employers want their company to stay away from physical medical help as much as possible. They have as much incentive to keep their workers healthy and away from high-risk locations. That is why financial incentives such as discounts and small gift-cards benefit everyone. Employees get small financial incentives for going with telehealth. Employers, meanwhile, keep their employees safe.
Still want more information? Still have questions? Visit either of the two linked websites above. Contact a risk advisor today at 914-357-8444. Or, visit our website here.
HIPAA violations can cost your practice, bigtime. There are federal fines for noncompliance based on the amount of negligence within your individual organization at the time of the violation. In human terms, fines range from anywhere between $100 and $50,000 depending on how out of line your organization is with HIPAA standards. Staying within compliance with the HIPAA is a smart business decision. It earns you trust from your customers and saves you money in fines.
There are only three main rules to follow as a qualifying business under the HIPAA. Stick to the guidelines addressed under the specific subsections of these rules and your healthcare business will be off to a good start.
Rule #1 HIPAA Privacy Rule
The Privacy Rule gives individuals rights to their PHI. This includes the right to examine and get a copy of their health records in the form and manner they request. Individuals may also correct their information if it is not correctly marked on their records. The Privacy Rule permits the disclosure of health information needed for patient care.
Rule #2 Security Rule
Covered entities must develop and put in place reasonable security measures through policies and procedures to protect the security of ePHI. Any ePHI created, transmitted, or maintained must be protected. Analyze the risks of ePHI in your businesses specific environment. Use this analysis to create solutions appropriate for your own situation. What is appropriate completely depends on many factors. Keep in mind the type of business, the amount of customer data stored, and the size of the business.
Rule #3 Breach Notification Rule
The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule requires entities to notify affected individuals of a breach of unsecured PHI. Generally, a breach is an impermissible use under the Privacy Rule that compromises the security or privacy of PHI. The disclosure of PHI is presumed to be a breach unless you show there is a low probability the PHI has been compromised based on a risk assessment.
Provide notifications no later than 60 days following the breach discovery. Submit breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals to HHS annually. The Breach Notification Rule also requires business associates of covered entities to notify the covered entity of breaches at or by the business associate.
Fines & Penalties
First Tier- The covered entity did not know and could not have reasonably known about the breach. This would cost your business between $100 and $50,000 per incident up to 1.5 million.
Second Tier- The entity knew or should have known of the violation, though they did not act. This would cost your business between $1,000 and $50,000 per incident up to 1.5 million.
Third Tier- The company corrected the problem within 30 days of the violation. This would cost your business between 10 and 50 thousand dollars per incident up to 1.5 million.
Fourth Tier- The company failed to make a timely correction to the problem. This would cost your business $50,000 per incident up to 1.5 million.
Steering clear of any sort of HIPAA violations/fines can save your business countless hours and dollars. If you still have questions, you can contact a risk advisortoday at 914-357-8444.
The COVID-19 outbreak has spread all throughout America, but most notably in New York. Considering America’s largest metropolitan hub is New York City, when the disease hit it was bound to be catastrophic. Due to the heavy outbreak in New York, Governor Cuomo ordered a stay-at-home rule for nearly three months. This resulted in higher unemployment and less in-person work happening.
Increase in COVID-19-Related Workers Comp Claims
What exactly does this mean for Workers Compensation claims? It depends on what types of workers comp claims. Considering health care workers and essential first responders are eligible for workers comp, the workers comp claims due to the contraction of coronavirus have been large in quantity and amounts paid out. Coronavirus claims have been costly for insurance carriers per claim for two reasons.
First, the medical bills related to treatment of the virus are hefty: 6 days of hospitalization can cost $40,000. Second, insurance carriers set a high standard for respiratory Workers Comp claims after the 9/11 attacks. Respiratory diseases lime coronavirus can have permanent or long-term impacts, meaning more money out of insurance carriers. And because the coronavirus is a temporary pandemic and is no fault of the employer, premiums can not necessarily increase, meaning greater losses for carriers due to the costly COVID-19 workers comp claims.
Decrease in Non-COVID-19 Related Workers Comp Claims
However, the COVID-19 impact on NYS workers comp does not end there. Because of the lock down, the number of non-COVID-19 workers comp claims has significantly shrunk these past 3 months. So, financially, while the COVID-19 claims are more expensive than regular workers comp claims, the number of COVID-19 claims is still not as large as the average amount of workers comp claims, meaning that both of these effects of the outbreak have offset each other financially.
The question is now whether insureds will protest that due to there being less workers on payroll and claims being filed, WC premiums should decrease, meaning insurance carriers charge less on premiums to pay out almost the same amount of money. It is important to know the outbreak is not over and these figures may change when the pandemic finishes. Keeping up to date with the official NYCIRB and NY officials is the best way to keep track of insurance on workers comp effects from the pandemic.
Still confused? Still have questions? Call a risk advisor today at 914-357-8444 or visit us here at our website.
Note
*All of these statistics and findings were found in a June 2020 report on COVID-19 and Workers Comp claims written by the NYCIRB. The link is mentioned in the article, and can be found here.
The I-9 Form is also known as the Employment Eligibility Verification. In the simplest terms, it is used to check the validity and identity of workers attempting to be hired for employment in the United States. It is to make sure workers are using their correct identity when applying for a job, citizen or not. Workers and employers alike have to fill it out on the employees expense to make sure each adds up. Part of the I-9 Form asks to prove identity by showing identity documents. These can include things such as birth certificate, license, ID card, passport, or SSN card.
Here are a few tips on what to and not to do with the I-9 Form:
DO Use the most recent version of the form
DON’T Complete an I-9 for independent contractors
DO Complete Section 1 by the end of the employee’s first day
DON’T Mandate Voluntary Data Elements
DO Complete Section 2 within 3 business days
DON’T Specify Documents to present
DO Review the documents with the employee present
DON’T Accept copied or expired documents
DO Stay consistent with photocopies
DON’T Complete Spanish version (unless in Puerto Rico)
DO Keep the form on file for the minimum period
DON’T Forget the I-9 is mandatory
DO Re-verify when necessary
DO Maintain a separate I-9 file
Still have questions? You can contact a risk advisor today at 914-357-8444. Or, you can visit our website here.
Ergonomics, or the study of people’s efficiency in the workplace, is a fast-growing field of research. Part of ergonomics is designing the workplace individually for everyone’s physical status, and lowering the number of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). Currently, MSDs account for 33% of injured work claims, and $1 billion are spent on treatment every week for this pain. Here are 5 ways in which you can help yourself against MSDs and participate in ergonomics.
Learn How To Correctly Sit in an Office Chair
Sitting in an office chair all day can be exhausting and after a while, our body tends to slide into unhealthy positions. Keeping a good posture by sitting all the way back into the chair will help your back, neck, and hips.
Avoid the Bad Habit of Stretching for Things
If your workspace is spread out and you have the need to reach for frequently used items, you can be in danger of injuring important muscles in your arms and shoulders. Reorganizing your desk to keep your most-used items closer to you can save you the pain later.
Keep your Head Level
Staring at a screen all day is already unhealthy, so doing it the wrong way is even worse. Make sure you are looking at your monitor straight on to avoid your neck from unnecessary stress injuries.
Move Around!
A simple one to stick to, just moving around once an hour. This will help with stretching your legs and keeping yourself moving is a great way to avoid major back issues.
Watch your Elbows
Where you put your elbows is an important part of keeping yourself safe from MSDs. Simply having an armchair to put your elbows and stop growing discomfort is a quick fix for long-term stabilization.
Keeping up with ergonomics will keep you physically healthy and safe. Hopefully, these 5 tips will be useful for you and others in your office.
A common cause for New York workers compensationinsurance claims can be overexertion. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published 2017-2018 overexertion statistics. They found that 295,000 in 2017 and 282,000 overexertion injuries in 2018 caused days off from work, and naturally, WC claims. These take up 31% of the non-fatal; work injuries that cause work days lost. This could result from a wide range of activities, such as lifting, carrying, throwing, pushing, or pulling. Although it is easy to overexert muscles, there are a few simple tips you could give your employees to help prevent such injuries. These near 600,000 days lost are all preventable by doing simple daily routines differently. Here are a few of these examples.
Start Easy
Many people have a tendency try to do too much when first starting a project. The result is that they end up injuring themselves, which means their work has to be put on hold until they heal.
Pace Yourself
Some make it a point to work as fast as possible. Unfortunately, they do not seem to realize that they could easily injure themselves while working at such a quick pace.
Know Your Limits
Regardless of the activity that a person is doing, it is always a good thing to know when to ask for help. Many people injure themselves by overdoing an activity, such as lifting a box that is clearly too large for one individual.
Set Obtainable Goals
Many times a person sets goals that he or she has no hope of actually reaching. By being reasonable with their workload, employees reduce the risk of injuries while still earning a sense of accomplishment.
Overexertion could happen regardless of how physically fit a worker is. This is why it is important to train your employees in the proper way to perform their job functions. Otherwise, you may be facing a New York workers compensation insurance claim and staff shortages.
June is National Safety Month. While safety should be at the forefront year-round, let us use this time to highlight workplace safety. Effective risk management strategies, which include claims management and timely claim reporting can help organizations mitigate losses, and also identify weaknesses in their own safety program.
NSC created National Safety Month to increase the awareness of workplace safety and to promote safety culture. It was organized by the National Safety Council and has occurred every June since 1996. This year the safety council are focusing on these topics as well as many others:
Mental Health
Ergonomics
Building A Safety Culture
Driving
Creating A Culture Focused on Safety
Does your organization have a safety committee?
Creating a safety committee is one of the many ways an organization control frequency and severity of workplace accidents. Taking a proactive approach by establishing a well-developed safety program promotes the idea that workplace safety is a top priority or the entire organization.
Falls are the #1 cause of fatalities in the construction industry. Additionally, falling objects contribute to a high incident rate. Every worker should be trained on the proper setup and safe use of fall protection equipment: this includes the use of ladders. Implementing a “Ladders Last” program is one way your organization can help protect employees from falling. A ladder’s last program is based on the idea of prevention versus protection.
Ergonomics is a great way to reduce the number of workers’ compensation claims due to overexertion. Overexertion contributes to 35% of all work-related injuries and is also one of the largest contributors to workers’ comp costs. Prevent overexertion by: regular exercise and should a doctor’s visit if an injury occurs.
Work with groups of employees to create an ergonomic training program that works for your organization. Employee participation is a great way to promote ergonomic safety. Stretches led by employees are one way to promote safety in the workplace. Ergonomics isn’t just for employees who move heavy objects. Sedentary employees may also benefit from these same practices.
Driver Safety
How’s my driving? If your organization is relying on drivers for day-to-day operations, you are already aware of the risk of the situation. A focus on driver safety is one way to help keep costs down and protect your workforce. Identify your high-risk driver who is constantly racking up points on their driver’s license. Consider pulling them off the road or even enroll them in a driver safety course. Identify trends: is one employee always involved in rear-end collisions as if he was not paying attention? Has another driver been involved in more than 2 vehicle-damage accidents in the same year? Identify the trends and take action. Learn how to identify high-risk drivers and help correct their behavior.
Additional Safety Resources From Metropolitan Risk
Incident Investigation Guide – Identifying the root cause of a workplace injury through thorough accident investigation allows the employer to take corrective action to prevent it from happening again.
Download our infographic on the leading causes of workplace accidents.
For our clients and the curious here is a great resource guide as you seek to build out your own programs and responses to the COVID 19 pandemic. We have been fielding a great many calls from companies looking to get ahead of this issue. We thought we would aggregate the information that is the most beneficial for valued stakeholders. Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an emerging challenge across the world for employers. We’ve gathered some materials to help you stay on top of employee concerns. Check here frequently for updates.
CDC Materials
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued:
Keep up to date on CDC guidance for specific industries, latest updates, and resources on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) main page.
DOL Materials
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has created a resource page for workers and employers. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division has posted these posters and guidance:
In response to COVID-19, the Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a bulletin regarding HIPAA Privacy and COVID-19.
OSHA Materials
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has created a COVID-19 website for workers and employers that addresses the disease and provides guidance and other resources for preventing exposure to and infection with the virus.
Unemployment Insurance (seven-day waiting period waived for Unemployment Insurance benefits for people who are out of work due pandemic closures or quarantines)
The recent outbreak of the Wannacry ransomware brought renewed attention to the importance of a well-crafted cybersecurity strategy. Every company should have a strategy in place regardless of its size. If you don’t have one yet, there is no time like the present to begin. We previously published an article detailing some key-focus points that should be addressed when developing an organizational-wide cybersecurity strategy.
In this article, we drill down into a handful of steps that can be taken now to begin securing your company’s network and data. This is not meant to be an all-encompassing guide. This is only a starting point. These steps should already be familiar for those that have already implemented a cybersecurity plan. However, the most comprehensive plans are worthless if they are not being executed.
1. Make sure all OS & software updates/patches have been applied.
Microsoft and other software developers such as Adobe and Oracle release updates and patches on a regular basis to improve usability and, more importantly, address security issues. Secure your computer systems by taking the time to install these updates. Turn on automatic updates whenever possible. Set reminders for yourself to check for and install any updates and patches. If you forget once, it is easier to forget again and before you know it months have gone by.
If you are running a PC with a version of Windows earlier than 10, be sure to install any updates and then run the tool to check for available updates again. In many cases, certain updates will not be available until other updates have already been installed.
2. Migrate to a Current Operating System.
Organizations are keeping their existing computers longer than they once did. There can be any number of reasons for this – the computers are “fast enough” to serve the needs of the company, the cost to replace the machines may be too high, or perhaps you need them to support a piece of legacy software that cannot run on new computers. These are all valid reasons but as an OS matures fewer security patches are issued. Eventually, the developer will cease all support. Most newer operating systems will run on older hardware. However, if your hardware cannot support the latest operating system, it may be time for an upgrade as well.
3. Install Antivirus Software.
This should be a no brainer. Many people think they’ll never be a target for an attack and as such don’t bother. For those of you out there thinking you’re “too small” to be a target, here is a sobering statistic: 85% of targets are small businesses. Do your research. There are some good options out there, many of which are free. Make sure protection is installed on all computers. Run scans on a regular basis. Check for and install updates on a regular basis. Antivirus software cannot do its job if it doesn’t know what to protect you from.
4. Password Administration.
More than 50% of people use the same password for all of their logins. Remembering one password is far easier than having a different one for each and every service. This makes compromising access to your corporate systems much easier. Employees should be required to use complex passwords. You can also request passwords to be changed on a regular basis.
5. Set User Access Permissions.
Employees only need access to the data required to do their job. Do they need access to certain sensitive information? Do they need permission to install programs? Narrow an employee’s access and permission only to what is needed. This will better protect your systems should their login be compromised.
6. Backup Your Data.
You may need to restore lost or corrupted data should you be hit with ransomware or your systems are disrupted by another type of attack. Backing up your data to an external hard drive that is always connected to your computer or network isn’t enough. That data can become compromised as well if your backup is connected to the same computer or network that suffers an attack. Hard drives are relatively inexpensive these days. Keep multiple backups off-site and swap them out on a regular basis. It is far easier and less costly to recreate or update a few files than to have to try to recreate years’ worth of data. Another option is to use a cloud-based backup service. Your data is stored off-site and most (but not all) of the burden of protection is transferred to your storage vendors such as Amazon Drive or Carbonite.
7. Transition All Your Data to the Cloud.
This step is a little more advanced than the others. As we discussed in point 6, having your data in the cloud takes a lot of the burden of protecting that data off you and transfers it to your storage vendor. You are reducing the impact ransomware can have by not storing critical information on your computer or network. Keep in mind, however, cloud storage can still be vulnerable to ransomware if you upload an infected file. That is why it is imperative you look for a vendor that can retain multiple versions of files if you decide to go the cloud storage route. You can restore a previous clean version with minimal effort should a file become infected.
8. Discuss Cyber Liability Insurance with a Risk Advisor.
You can do everything to protect your computer network and data. The reality is no system is perfect. Cyber liability can’t stop you from having a ransomware attack or data breach. It will help to cover the costs of investigating the breach. It will help you in the defense of claims from the attack & potential data loss. Many policies may also include cyber extortion costs to address a ransomware attack.
Cyber liability tends to be written on the basis that at least some basic security controls are in place. It is easy to say you are performing these steps on an application. However, if a claim results which could have been prevented by following these steps, it may not be covered.
Contact one of our Risk Advisors today by clicking here to learn more about cyber liability and how it can help your company.
