The Joint Commission issued a new advisory to encourage health care providers to take tangible steps to better understand and meet the needs of the diverse populations of which they serve. The Joint Commission recognized that COVID-19 has “shed a light on the many gaps in health care that diverse populations have experienced for decades.” In light of the “growing need —socially, politically, morally, and ethically — to address the health and well-being of diverse…

On Friday, July 9, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) released new guidelines for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The CDC updated its guidelines to “provide safe and supportive learning environments for students.” It recognized that outbreaks of COVID-19 have occurred in schools; however, it indicated that multiple studies show that when schools implement multiple prevention strategies on campus, the transmission rates are lower than or similar to community transmission levels.…

Based on an evaluation of current inspection and illness data, federal OSHA has revised its March 21, 2021 National Emphasis Program (NEP), adjusting the targeted industries to those most at risk for COVID-19 exposure.  The revised NEP still includes healthcare and non-healthcare industries, including meat and poultry processing, but eliminates a prior appendix that provided a list of Secondary Target Industries. For healthcare industry inspections, the revised NEP refers compliance safety and health…

As we previously announced, on June 10, 2021 the U.S. Department of Labor issued long anticipated emergency workplace guidelines.  The Emergency Temporary Standard is applicable to health care entities such as hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.  The full regulation text may be found here.  The new rules do not apply to dispensing of prescriptions by pharmacists in retail settings, home healthcare settings where all employees are fully vaccinated and all non-employees…

On May 13, 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) released an update that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear a mask in most settings. The update continues the trend of public health authorities relaxing previous guidelines for individuals that have received a COVID-19 vaccine. See Health Law Pulse posts here, here, here and here. More specifically, the guidance provides that fully vaccinated people: “no longer…

On Tuesday, April 27, 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC) unveiled updated guidelines detailing activities that vaccinated people can safely resume. The guidelines continue the trend of public health authorities relaxing previous guidelines for individuals that have received a COVID-19 vaccine.  See Health Law Pulse posts here, here and here. After studying how likely vaccinated people are to transmit the virus, the CDC says fully vaccinated people can:…