Please print and post for staff who do not have access
to e-mail.
As reported through media outlets, production and delivery of H1N1 vaccine has not met expectations: Less than half of the promised 40 million doses have been produced. UPMC has received a small percentage of our requested doses; they are being allocated to our most vulnerable populations, such as children and pregnant women. UPMC has asked the Allegheny County Health Department and the state Department of Health to advocate for an expedited delivery.
For the latest news and information about seasonal and H1N1 flu, visit the Flu site on Infonet.
A physician and two employees at a health care facility in Arkansas were sentenced by a federal court to one year’s probation and fines of between $1,500 and $5,000 after they looked at the medical records of a celebrity patient. The two employees were also fired by the facility.
At UPMC, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) carries both a legal and moral imperative. The confidentiality of our patients’ records should be respected not only because the law mandates it, but because our patients are entitled to privacy.
All staff and physicians are reminded that they are not permitted to look at a patient record unless they have a legitimate work-related reason for doing so.
For more information, visit the HIPAA
Infonet site.
"Hard Times Come Again, No More" — It was the title of a well-loved melody by Lawrenceville native Stephen Foster during the Civil War, and its lyrics still tug at the heart. In today’s hard times, United Way is there to help people in our hometown.
By donating to United Way’s Impact Fund, you will help someone in need sleep a little easier by supporting programs like these:
- ACTION-Housing, to help prevent mortgage foreclosures for low-income adults
- Community Human Services Corporation, to help prevent eviction and utility shut-offs
- Family Services of Western Pennsylvania, to help secure loans to low-income working people to buy or repair an automobile to get to work, child care, or job training
Help someone through a hard time. Isn’t that what being a neighbor is all about?
To make your donation, visit the United Way Infonet site, or visit www.doyouliveunited.org.
Don't forget, daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. Remember to turn your clocks back one hour before you go to bed on Saturday night. For more information, visit the National Institute of Standards and Technology website.
“The Role of Midlevel Providers in the Practice,” part of a series of classes for UPMC midlevel providers and physician extenders, will be held Thursday, Nov. 12, from 7 to 8 a.m. in the Herberman Conference Center at UPMC Cancer Pavilion, UPMC Shadyside. The class previously was scheduled for Nov. 3.
The class will be led by Suzan Berman, senior manager, Coding and Compliance, Department of Surgery and Department of Anesthesiology. This year’s sessions will be simulcast to several sites. For more information or to RSVP, visit Infonet or call the Office of Midlevel Providers at 412-802-8395.
Do you know what to do with your used paper products? At UPMC, we recycle paper products a few ways in order to comply with health care regulations.
CINTAS containers (gray or blue, locking waste trucks)
• for confidential documents containing personal information or financial
information
Blue recycling containers
• nonconfidential documents, newspapers, craft paper used for packaging
(no telephone books, magazines, or books of any kind)
Special pickup required
• cardboard or boxboard not associated with food service (must be marked,
broken down, bundled, and placed in pickup areas designated by your business
unit’s environmental support service staff)
• telephone books, magazines, and books of any kind (call Environmental
Services to arrange for pickup)
To learn more about recycling, visit the Environmental Initiatives site on Infonet.
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Oakland, Shadyside, and Corporate locations
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Oct. 30, 2009