In the course of treating patients, dental offices routinely use disinfectants/sterilants, corrosive materials, heavy metals, and other hazardous materials, generating small quantities of hazardous wastes that must be managed properly to prevent environmental contamination. Hazardous waste is chemical waste with…
According to an article in the May 2023 edition of Board Matters, the Dental Board of California’s (DBC’s)online news publication, the DBC will be resuming random continuing education (CE) audits of active licensees each month to ensure licensees are completing…
Recently, the US Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR)announced three separate Resolution Agreements for potential violations by healthcare providers. The first incident involved a potential violation of federal civil rights laws, while the second…
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared May 5th, 2023, to be World Hand Hygiene Day. As part of a major global effort to improve hand hygiene in healthcare, WHO launched the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands annual global campaign in 2009…
This is a query that we often hear from our clients. Most waste generated by dental offices falls into the category of minimally contaminated, general solid waste and thus may be discarded in the regular trash. Some examples include used…
Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health concern, and combatting it requires a multi-faceted approach. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), dentists prescribe around 10% of overall outpatient antibiotic prescriptions nationally. Up to 85% of…
Under the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA’s) Security Rule, covered entities, including most dental offices, are required to adopt adequate means for safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of PHI. This includes conducting a security risk analysis…
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends and the Dental Board of California (DBC) requires standard precautions to be used for the care of all patients regardless of their diagnoses or personal infectious status. Standard precautions in…
Beginning April 3, 2023, patients and non-clinical staff will no longer be required to wear face coverings for COVID-19 protection in California healthcare settings. On February 28, 2023, Governor Newsom issued a proclamation terminating the California’s COVID-19 State of Emergency. Four days…
On December 15, 2022, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted to adopt the COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations, to replace the May 2022 version of the emergency temporary standard. The regulation is expected to be approved by the…
