Blog
Expanding Educational Horizons for Dental Professionals
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Dental Compliance Institute (DCI) is pleased to announce two exciting milestones in our young company’s history. Just in time for our second anniversary, our compliance credentials have just been approved by the USPTO–a testament to the kind of difference we’ve made for the dental industry. DCI provides train-the-trainer education for dental…
OSHA Fines: Could this have been prevented?
You’ve been dealing with OSHA since you opened your practice (or longer if you happen to recall the days before gloves, masks or glasses), but what does OSHA really require? One Illinois practice thought they were doing everything correctly, but found themselves owing OSHA over $53,000 in fines this summer. What if you had to…
The New ABCs of Dentistry
What do CMS, ACA, OCR, HIPAA and OSHA have in common? Plenty! They are all acronyms for just a few of the federal regulatory agencies or laws that govern dentistry. How many did you get correct? CMS stands the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid; ACA is the Affordable Care Act; OCR is the Office of…
Compliance Routines and Ruts
Successful people tend to thrive on routine and habits, according to speaker and author Michael Kerr. Routines are habits that are theoretically rooted in meaning and purpose. This is certainly the case in dental settings where we insist on strict adherence to patient schedules and continually seek to improve work habits. Routines devolve into ruts…
$3.9 Million Fine for Stolen Laptop: Does your compliance budget cover this?
All business owners have a fiscal responsibility to be budget conscious, and dentists are no different. However, as illustrated in the case below, lack of compliance can take a huge bite out of your budget. Feinstein Institute for Medical Research (FIMR) reported that an unencrypted laptop containing protected health information (PHI) of 13,000 patients was…
Patients are Watching You, But What’s Their Compliance IQ?
We’d all agree that, in this age of technology and instant information, patients are savvier than ever. They know when you should be washing your hands, changing your gloves or how you should be handling their privacy rights. It doesn’t matter what their compliance IQ, because whether they are right or wrong, their perception is…
Hygienists as Business Associates and Covered Entities
Hygienists are you prepared for emerging frontiers in healthcare delivery? New frontiers present opportunities as well as regulatory obligations. The Institute for Dental Compliance and Risk Management helps prepares you to meet new challenges.
Dental Frustrations
You finally did it! After months of planning, hard work and regulatory hurdles you just opened your first practice — or perhaps an additional location. Congratulations! Fast forward to after you’ve been open awhile and the newness has worn off. You survived your first round of hiring, firing, collection issues, regulatory inspections and more. But…
Future Jobs in Dentistry
The perfect storm is brewing in dentistry, which we predict will result in more specialized roles on the dental team. What does that mean? The duties and responsibilities of Compliance and Safety Officers will expand and become more closely defined. You may have a designated OSHA or Safety Coordinator for your practice, but how formal…
The Most Important Thing You Should Do for 2015
Making the best use of your time is the single most important thing you can do for your practice in 2015, but you can’t do it alone. We all have the same number of hours in a day, so what is the best way to get help when you need it, in the areas you need it? Simple. Establish a virtual team of experts with the focused expertise, knowledge and – most of all – the time your team doesn’t have…