Are you in Compliance With State and Federal Regulations?

Business Of Dentistry Podcast

This week I touch on a few things I’ve noticed in my area lately. Consider revisiting some policies and protocols from time to time, to make sure you are in compliance with state and federal regulations. I found out from my Marketing Director that OSHA has been paying some visits to dental offices in Tennessee, checking if our business is up-to-date with their requirements. As you might be aware of, we have a problem here in Tennessee with opioid prescriptions. The state legislature is trying to tackle it by passing a new bill, which I’m not so excited about. I also speak about a new credentialing organization we recently switched to, and some DEA visits I heard about from an oral surgeon friend of mine. Key takeaways: Revisit the OSHA compliance in your state A potential new bill regarding the opioid problem in Tennessee An alternative to CAQH and some DEA visits Links: ICD-10 Codes 2018 CAQH Availity Want to receive our podcast on a weekly basis? Subscribe to our newsletter! Revisit the OSHA compliance in your state My Marketing Director, Meredith, was out doing her marketing rounds a few weeks ago, and she came back telling me that OSHA was visiting a lot of dental offices and checking how we are conducting business from their standpoint. They were checking if the documentation was in line if dentists had personal protective equipment on, and so on. We realized we have to revisit all of these things, to make sure that we are in compliance. It’s true, revisiting means extra work on us, as owners and administrators of our practices, but we have to understand that this is a requirement mandated by the government, and that non-compliance will most likely translate into a penalty. A new bill regarding the opioid problem around here I’m getting a lot of email traffic with the opioid problem we have in Tennessee at the moment. The state legislature in Tennessee are working on some bills through the committee, and they’re trying to get a bill related to the opioid problem for a vote. Our group, the Tennessee Dental Association, is trying to fight this. Allow me to explain why. What the state legislature is trying to do is require that: Anyone who writes opioid prescriptions has to check the prescription database (I already do that pretty routinely, so I don’t have a big problem with it, but it’s going to be a requirement) We include the ICD-10 code for the primary disease on the prescription and in the patient’s chart We do a written consent from the patient when we prescribe him a narcotic We do counseling for women of childbearing age about the dangers of narcotics and opioids You might think, hey, this doesn’t sound so bad. I personally find it a bit burdensome as a provider. If you prescribe narcotics just a few days per week, you have to add a lot of extra work to your schedule. It seems that they are making some progress by trying to create a three-day limit. That means that if you write narcotics prescriptions less than three days per week, you don’t have to do all the things I mentioned above. The current bill that has been proposed says that you can write narcotics prescriptions up to 10 days, and have to go through all the checkbox above. They are saying that they are working on trying to help dentists out with the bill allowing providers to write prescriptions for up to three days without the requirements. We definitely have an opioid crisis here, that’s not up for debate. My personal vent is that a lot of the pain management clinics and many mid-level providers here do excessive amounts of opioid prescriptions, and yet they are still calling the dentists out. We’ll see how that works out, and if it’ll go to a vote. I personally find it a little bit burdensome, and that’s why I decided to mention it. Do you already have this in place in your state? If so, I’d love to know. A new credentialing organization and some DEA visits