North Carolina Dental Society
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TMC Programs are Endorsed Programs by the NCDS. Total Medical Compliance provides a full range of programs customized to meet the compliance and training needs of North Carolina Dental Society members.You can choose the benefits of an onsite program and have an experienced consultant inspect your facility and provide site specific training for your team. Or you can choose the convenience of a web based program for your staff supported by our compliance team.
Compliance Information and Best PracticesTotal Medical Compliance, in partnership with NCDS, will keep you up-to-date on the latest compliance information and best practices. Never has it been so easy to find the latest information. TMC also provides seminars and webinars on compliance topics of interest to NCDS members – OSHA, HIPAA, Infection Control/SPICE, and others.
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Dental Radiation Safety Manual
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Compliance ProductsNCDS Discounts and Promotions
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Discounts and Promotions
Medical Security Insurance
TMC is pleased to announce a partnership with Medical Security Insurance who will offer a 5% Risk Management credit for two consecutive years upon insurance renewal for any dental client utilizing TMC on-site compliance services. Read more about TMC’s on-site compliance program by clicking on TMC OFFERRINGS above.
Dental Radiation Manual – $325 – a $50 savings
The NC Radiology Compliance Branch will inspect every dental location once every three years. Additionally they have changed the requirements for documentation of your Radiation Safety Program. Each office must have a customized plan that reflects your office practices. The old model plan will not be acceptable.
TMC is registered with the NC Radiology Branch to provide this service to dental practices in NC. The manual was reviewed by the NC Radiology Compliance Branch for compliance. All NCDS members receive a $50 discount when they purchase a TMC Dental Radiation Safety Manual. Use code tmc50
Benefits of Being a TMC Client
TMC clients enjoy the piece of mind of knowing they are in compliance when they use TMC programs. They know trained professionals in Client Services are there every day to provide guidance and help quickly when it is needed by phone or email.
Read more about TMC turnkey compliance programs by clicking TMC OFFERRINGS above. TMC programs include training, manuals, inspections and support.
Additionally TMC adds value in a number of other ways, saving money and time for our clients:
- Chemical labels for products not in the original containers as required by OSHA
- Providing reduced cost electronic MSDS manuals
- Convenient online programs to minimize lost patient time
- And more
Joint the TMC family of clients. For cost effective solutions to your compliance needs contact us at 1-888-862-6742 or service@totalmedicalcompliance.com
We free you to focus on patients, not compliance
Glutaraldehyde – Safe Use & Spill Cleanup
Glutaraldehydes are used in healthcare settings most often to high-level disinfect semi-critical medical devices that are not heat tolerant and thus cannot be placed in an autoclave.
It is important to know how to use glutaraldehyde solutions effectively to ensure items are safe for use on the patient. In addition, it is equally important to know how to use glutaraldehydes safely to prevent personnel and patient exposure to the solution and vapors as glutaraldehyde is a skin, eye, and respiratory irritant.
Authorizations
Disclosure of protected health information (PHI) without proper patient authorization and/or releasing information when an authorization form does not meet the regulatory requirements are in the top 5 complaint reasons received by Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Often practices do not realize their authorization process is in violation of the regulation until they receive a patient complaint from the OCR or hear from an angry patient.
Some practices are using a consent process that was replaced in 2003 when the more formal authorization form was adopted. Practices may allow the patient to list others the practice may talk to about patient PHI in a way that is no longer acceptable. Now even more changes are being made as a result of the HITECH Act and subsequent regulations to implement the law. It is a good time to review the old and new requirements.
Mercury – Spill Prevention & Cleanup
Mercury can be found in a variety of items such as fever thermometers, thermostats, sphygmomanometers, dental amalgam and irons. Breathing mercury vapors can be very dangerous. Small children and pregnant women are at highest risk for mercury poisoning, but mercury poisoning can impact anyone.
Take immediate action to clean-up a spill. Read more on the correct way to clean-up a spill and dispose of the mercury to protect patients, employees and the environment.
Better yet, start now to eliminate Mercury from the office to prevent a possible spill. When it is not possible to eliminate Mercury altogether, take action to store and dispose of it properly. Read more on storage and disposal.
Proper Decontamination of Instruments – Are You Following the Correct Steps?
Recently there has been a flurry of media focus on the lack of basic infection control practices in ambulatory care. When the situations have been further investigated, one of the items associated with possible transmission of hep B, hep C, and HIV was the lack of adequate disinfection or sterilization of equipment used to provide patient care. Be sure your practice is following the appropriate guidelines for the proper disinfection or sterilization of instruments. The last thing that you want is to be on the evening news!
Dental Infection Control Guidelines
The CDC, working with other authorities on infection control, developed guidelines for Infection Control in Dental settings. This report consolidates recommendations for preventing and controlling infectious diseases and managing personnel health and safety concerns related to infection control in dental settings. This 2003 report 1) updates and revises previous CDC recommendations regarding infection control in dental settings; 2) incorporates relevant infection-control measures from other CDC guidelines; and 3) discusses concerns not addressed in previous recommendations for dentistry.
You can refer to the recommendations from the report to assist you with any aspect of Infection Control. The full report provides the background and evidence as to why this recommendation was made. Of course, there have been updates since 2003 and you can attend one of the TMC Infection Control seminars or webinars to obtain the latest information.
How Would You Manage an Exposure Event? Although rare in a dental office, an exposure to blood or bloody saliva requires fast action on the part of many people in the practice. This is truly an example of the need for preplanning and education of all staff at risk.Just as a review, the potential routes of exposure include:
- Stick with a contaminated needle.
- Stick with a contaminated sharp object, for example, scalers, surgical instruments, and scalpel blades.
- Splash to the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, mouth.
- Splash to non-intact skin.
While prevention should be at the top or your priority list, once the exposure occurs the clock literally starts ticking. Employees MUST know the correct measures to take and how and to whom to report the incident. Your practice should have a health care provider identified in advance who can provide testing of your worker and the source patient.
Total Medical Compliance is an ADA CERP Recognized ProviderADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry.
