Flu Season
by Dr. Art Gendelman, V.P. of Clinical Services

Fall is here and that means Flu season is just around the corner. Everyone in the healthcare field is a great candidate for the Flu vaccine. Allergies to eggs is really the only reason not to get one. It sometimes gives you a sore arm, mild headache and muscle achiness, but that goes away in 24 hours. The Flu vaccine not only protects you, but it protects your family, friends and especially the Residents that you work with. The Flu vaccine is free, so there are few reasons not to get one. I am hoping to get 75% of all of our employees and 100% of our Residents vaccinated this year.
Look for raffles and prizes for those who get vaccinated!

HIPAA PRIVACY BREACH
by Debbie Moore

Residents expect us to keep their health and personal information confidential and secure.  Our responsibility as employees in a health care facility is to be sure we are only accessing resident information as we need to in order to do our job.  If you view a resident’s medical record and you are not involved in the resident’s care or treatment plan or you do not need access to the record in order to do your job, you have committed a privacy breach. 

Breaches in privacy have occurred many times at various health care facilities across the country resulting in disciplinary action, termination, fines and possible prison time.  127 employees at a California hospital inappropriately accessed celebrities medical records; a State governor’s personal health information was inappropriately accessed by hospital employees; an administrative specialist at a California hospital was charged with accessing and selling medical records of celebrities treated at the hospital to the media;  an Arkansas nurse gave patient information to her husband who later called a patient and threatened to use the information against the patient in “an upcoming legal proceeding.”  An Iowa hospital office manager’s records were inappropriately reviewed by office staff simply for curiosity and personal use. 

If you violate the Privacy Rule, civil and criminal penalties may result (i.e. a $100 civil penalty up to a maximum of $25,000 per year for each standard violated; criminal penalty for knowingly disclosing PHI-- possibly $250,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison).

We may not have well known celebrities at our facilities, but each individual is a very important person to their loved ones and friends.  Do not discuss personal information about residents to others who are not involved in their care.  Break time is not a time to discuss residents when other employees may be present who do not have the right or need to know.  Also, do not discuss residents when you go home or out in public.  Do your part in protecting everyone’s fundamental right to privacy and confidentiality.

Healthy Eating, Active Living: One Step at a Time
by Beth Lind, R.D., L.D.

There is not a better time than now to invest in your health and the health of your family.  Follow these goal-setting steps to start eating smarter and moving more.

Audit your food choices and lifestyle.  Start by keeping track of what you eat or drink, along with how much, when and why.  For example, do you snack when you feel stressed or bored?  Keep a food diary to determine the eating behaviors you want to change.

Set realistic personal goals.  Decide what you want, such as a healthier weight or lower cholesterol.  And remember that change doesn’t mean giving up a food you like.  However, smaller portions, different ways of cooking or being more physically active give you more “wiggle room” to occasionally enjoy foods with more calories.

Make a plan for change.  Divide big goals, such as “I will eat better,” into smaller, more specific goals, such as “I will eat one more piece of fruit each day.”  Write down practical steps you can take to achieve your goals.  For example:
Goal: Eat more whole-grain foods every day.
Steps: Make sandwiches and toast with whole-grain bread.  Switch to brown rice.  Eat oatmeal for breakfast.  Add whole-wheat pasta or whole barley to vegetable soups.

Re-evaluate your plan every month or two.  Monitor how the changes you’re making fit with your goals, and make additional changes as needed.

Be patient.  Changes that last take time, commitment and encouragement.  Most health goals take a lifelong commitment.  Stick with your plan and remember that small steps toward reaching your goal add up over time.  If you get off track, pick up where you left off and start again.

Adapted from the American Dietetic Association, www.eatright.org

Email by Craig Ray
Trusting Your Friend's Email

Even though they may be your friends or co-workers, don't always trust email that comes from people you know.  It's easy to assume that if it has their name then it's legitimate email.  Unfortunately, that may not always be true.
There are some computer viruses and email spammers that can fake who the message is from.  For example, my computer has a virus and this virus goes through my address list looking for people to email.  It finds Bob Smith and Jane Doe in my list.  The virus can send an email to Bob Smith and make it appear to come from Jane Doe.

So, if you get an email from a friend or co-worker where the subject or body just seems strange, don't open any attachment to that email.  If in doubt, you can always ask them if they actually sent that or not.  Of course, if it's something you're expecting, then feel free to open it.

Adding Email to your "Blacklist"

If you would like flag all future email from a specific sender as junk, it's very easy to do in Outlook.  Highlight the email and right-click it, and go down to Junk Email. When the sub-menu comes up, click on "Add Sender to Blocked Senders List", and any future email from that address will go into your Junk Email folder.

If for whatever reason you find yourself without any sort of anti-virus program, you can at least have your computer scanned for free by going to http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ and using their tools to scan your computer.  This will not prevent your computer from getting a virus – it is only designed to remove viruses.