#106 Compliance Divas Anniversary Edition

In this special edition, the Divas commemorate a 2 year anniversary  of podcasting. The Compliance Divas recap their favorite episodes and give a heartfelt shout out to the many sponsors and special guests we've had over the past 2 years. What is your favorite podcast?  We'd love to hear from you!

• The Compliance Divas podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/ycxy3rzv

                                                 https://www.thecompliancedivas.com

Transcript

Copy

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Welcome.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

I'm Leslie Cannon. I'm Mary Gavoni.

SPEAKER_03 0:09

I'm Linda Harvey. I'm Olivia Wan. And together we are the Compliance Divas.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Welcome to this podcast of the Compliance Divas. And it's a very special podcast to commemorate our two-year anniversary of podcasting. My name is Leslie Cannem, and I'm going to be your moderator for this podcast today. As the compliance divas, we bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating regulatory compliance to keep you on course. We would love if you would subscribe to the Compliance Divas podcast through your favorite podcast channel or on our website, thecompliancedivas.com. And any resources we mentioned during our podcast can be found on the resources tab of thecompliancedevas.com. We always welcome questions. Submit your questions to support at thecompliancedeevas.com. Well, I have to say that I have enjoyed being part of this podcast for the last two years, and I have learned so much from not only my fellow divas, but also from some of the guests that we've had. And in this podcast, we're just going to take a little bit of time to review some of the exciting guests and exciting podcasts that we've had. And I'd like to start out with our diva Olivia, and she's going to tell us a little bit about how we became the compliance divas and then share some of her thoughts from her favorite podcasts. Olivia? Leslie, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

As I look back on how we started, COVID, when it first hit, was some scary times for everyone, particularly dental offices. And the guidance was changing so frequently that the four of us came together each week to review what the latest guidance was and how we could best interpret it for our individual client base. And looking back on that year, it was so helpful and actually comforting, Leslie, that we had the four of us to talk about these the guidance and what we could do to help our clients. And it seemed like that information was so valuable that we at one point elected to make this a podcast to share these conversations and the content that we were working on with potential listeners. And I would have never thought in a million years that it would have been as successful as it is today. So looking back on that early start, I really do appreciate my fellow divas, Linda, Mary, and Leslie, for having this come together. And when we talked about looking at our favorite episodes, that was really tough because each week I really enjoy the content. And although maybe some of the COVID content is not as relevant, some of the portions are not quite as relevant. I do appreciate those humble beginnings that we had as the compliance divas. But we don't just talk about infection control, and that's what's so wonderful about this podcast. We've also touched on some very serious HIPAA issues. And probably the episodes that I enjoyed, uh, number 82, where we talked about HIPAA fines, because I think it's very sobering for our listeners to listen to how expensive these fines can be and how dental offices have been under attack with common violations. One of my favorite topics is waterline safety. So I really enjoyed the episodes that we talked about waterline safety, and I appreciate the insight that some of our sponsors brought to the table, such as Mike Russ from ProEdge. He's always so fun to work with, and I learned a lot with him. Landon Hilliard from Dental Safe was a great episode, too, as well as working with Sterile Sill on dental unit water quality. Leslie, I also enjoyed the episode where we invited the retired OSHA inspector to talk with us and share his knowledge during his working years and things that he found, perhaps common violations and how he worked with dental offices and helping them get back up to satisfactory compliance levels. Always enjoy talking about exposure incidents because that's a common support question that we get in our individual consulting companies. But episode number 51, where we go over step by step what to do in case there is a sharps injury or exposure incident. But so hard to summarize it, Leslie, on which ones were my favorite, because as I mentioned, we do enjoy them week to week. And we truly appreciate the different sponsors that we've worked with over the last few years and how they've supported us along this journey.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Olivia, that was great to take a little walk back along memory lane to learn about how we uh became the compliance divas. And uh it's true we really did uh lend a lifeline to each one uh to the other to make sure we had reliable resources that could be counted on by our clients and audiences. Linda, will you share with us some of your favorite episodes?

SPEAKER_02 5:44

Sure, Leslie. Uh, first I'd like to echo some of yours and Olivia's sentiments about when we formed the Divas, it was very comforting to have one another to talk to and talk out loud and look at the pros and cons, and each one of us searching different research and have that lifeline. So my hope is now that the Compliance Divas podcast will provide that level of comfort and security and extra knowledge and just a lifeline for many of our listeners who are looking for more information and and that can fit it in in a simple, easy format in the car or wherever they are at lunch, and just enjoy what we share because we just really uh value that opportunity to have to have that time with them. Well, some of my top podcasts, and that like you said, Olivia, they're so hard to choose because there's all of them were we just enjoyed all of them, and we had some terrific sponsors that we're grateful for, and we had a lot of great guests. So I think one of my early podcasts was episode number 36 with Michelle Lee, the executive director of OSAP, the organization for safety, asepsis and prevention. And OSAP is one of Dennistry's best kept secret still, despite the fact they've been in existence since the 1980s, and it's a great membership group. But for those of you listening to the podcast today and you're not yet a member, please join OSAP, OSAP.org, or get your office to sign up. It's a great uh addition to the all the information that we provide here in the podcast. And OSAP has two meetings every year. They have their annual boot camp in January, usually around the Atlanta area, and then their annual meeting is uh in June, and it moves from location to location. So stay up with that. So, following that, another early episode that I really enjoyed was episode number 31. I'm just a geek on HIPAA and security as well as infection control. So I really enjoyed having both Amy Wood and Debbie Carr, who are credential security experts, come and talk to us about some of the real issues that doctors and their teams face when it comes to protecting their patient data. Doesn't matter whether it's a private practice or someone has multiple offices or it's a large DSO organization. And as we just saw recently, one of the large DSO organizations had a big security issue. So it happens at all levels of business throughout our society. And I know while doctors may feel smothered by some of the regulations enforced these days, um, which we can't help, it's all I'd like to think that we can look at the flip side of that coin and how following security best practices is really a form of insurance and protection for the for business, any business, dentistry, or any other dental, any business in general. My next one, Leslie, was number uh 80, titled single does single use really mean single use items? Even today, I still get stories, and I'm sure divas, you do too, about dental practices that are either unknowingly or mistakenly reusing single use items. And that's a clear violation of the standard of care and most likely their dental practice act as well. So I know since COVID, um costs have gone up for supplies, but it's we really have to be mindful of doing right things for our patients and just providing the best care with using things like single use items properly. And then lastly, Leslie, I'd like to wrap up with number 59. That was onboarding new team members. That one was special to me because just to be able to help new team members, whether they have dental experience or not, get off on the right foot with the practice and be successful because that's everyone's goal in hiring a new team member, whether they're replacing someone who's left or whether they're expanding their team, you want to have that right person, that right fit. So nurturing that from the very beginning of someone's employment is extremely important. And these days, infection control is not getting easier. There's a lot more to it than most average uh folks even think about. So we're glad to um support those podcasts, Leslie, and uh continue supporting our wonderful listeners.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Linda, I agree 100%. Your choices were stellar. Uh, I had a few of my own that I felt was uh were just outstanding podcasts. And one was outside the realm of infection control. Deborah Inglehart Nash had a great presentation podcast for us on human trafficking and how you might recognize a victim of human trafficking in the dental chair. And uh, you know, with one of the overriding statements that she made that stood out in my mind is that most people think it wouldn't happen in my town. And it actually happens in every town. So she gave us some tips on how we might be a little bit more aware of recognition of a person who may be a victim of human trafficking in our dental chair. Sometimes they're children. She said the average age is around 14 years old, and they may be trafficked for uh for strip clubs or for uh you know sexual uh abuse. They may um come in to bring in bring the uh person in because they have infection or an aesthetic problem, maybe um something to make their smile more pleasing, but um if they have an infection, of course, to uh get them back to work. They can't work if they're not feeling well. Um she gave us some tips on what to look for bruises and whether there might be um resistance to eye contact or nervousness, or if they're brought in by someone who looks like a benevolent ant who wants to answer all the questions. And so there's little things that we can look for, and that helped raise my awareness on human trafficking. We have some great resources on episode 50, what dentistry needs to know about human uh trafficking, as well as the 800 number, to help you with a little bit more of what to look for. And I think one thing that we asked during that podcast was, is there a checklist? What should we be looking for? And she really gave us a whole list of things, but then gave us some hotlines where we may be able to call and get more information on how we could better educate ourselves to be more prepared for that. My next uh favorite, and I don't know which one was more favorite, they're all sort of favorites in my book. We had uh David Harris from Prosperodon, which is uh actually the world's largest uh company that deals exclusively in dental office embezzlement. And one of the things that he impressed upon us was the importance of background checks. And one of the things I think that we're we're lacking is because we have such an issue with uh staffing, there's such a shortage of hireable people that many times people are getting one, two applicants and they're picking from the best resume. What he said, which was a startling statistic, is that one in four applicants, pardon me, not one in four applicants, but one in four adults or 70 million Americans has a record. And I thought that was a startling statistic. And he said, You're playing the lottery, sooner or later you will hire someone who has a record. So he recommended that we include background checks as our part of our uh our hiring process and that we also verify ID, more than one form of ID, especially with the dental practices that are are maybe um using more sedation dentistry, where there's many different controlled substances that are available. We want to make sure that we have people who are not uh that don't have a criminal history. Uh, he also recommended back uh that we look at credit. Yeah, someone that has bad credit doesn't necessarily mean that you shouldn't hire them, but uh it it may be that they're living beyond their means. And that could be somebody who might be tempted to embezzle. And then uh he also recommended that we take a close look at gaps in work history, that those should be substantiated. If someone has more than a month of a gap in work history and they say, well, oh, I just stepped away from dentistry for a while. Um, we should be asking them to substantiate that and say something like, it's our policy to substantiate gaps in employment. So we're going to ask you to provide us verification as to whatever the testament is to how they why they're stepping away. One other thing that we got from David was he offered a checklist that helps you identify uh your risk of being embezzled. And he said he normally sells that checklist for $139 on his website. But any of the compliance divas listeners could go to prosperodent.com and download that list for free as long as they mention the compliance divas. So there's some great value for uh dentists or anyone in a dental practice that is responsible for hiring. And then one of my favorite fun podcasts, Olivia and I had an opportunity to do a podcast on service dogs. And that was fun because uh Olivia and I both have lots of animals. I have a service dog myself. Many of my uh audiences and clients have met Mocha. Uh, but what we wanted to do was look at what uh dental practice might do if someone came in with a service dog. What are the ramifications? Can they actually come in the in the treatment room? Is our infection control concerns? And uh we looked at the various different types of service dogs. We have companion service dogs, uh, therapy dogs, emotional dogs, comfort dogs, but are they really all qualified to be able to have the handler the rights to bring them into every situation? And so uh you'd have to check with your state and local regulations to be sure. Service dogs certainly that are truly service dogs have the right and the handler has the right to have them with them. Uh us as dental professionals have to be very careful on how we ask a question to determine whether a dog is actually a service dog or a companion or comfort animal or therapy animal or emotional support animal. And the the kind of questions really can't uh play to what the person's disability is. We have to be super limited in our inquiries. And the first question that we're allowed to ask is Is the dog a service animal because of a disability? Now we can't ask what the disability is, but we can ask that question. And then the other question that we're allowed to ask is what work or task has that dog been trained to do? And so with those two questions, we can determine if we have a bona fide service dog. And they cannot be restricted for any reason for accompanying the person that they are in service to. A dental practice can't say, for example, well, we have allergies to dogs or we're concerned about infection control. Those are not valid reasons to restrict a service dog. Now, we want to make sure our listeners are well aware that uh, you know, ADA, Americans with disabilities, uh, is going to be the agency that individuals would go to if they wanted to uh complain and there may be a violation that might be issued. Uh, Olivia had mentioned uh some kind of fun stories about some of the service uh or the animals that she has on her farm. She has mini horses and she also has pigs. Uh, she explained to us that mini horses can actually be used as service animals and actually might be a better choice to someone who is uh in need of a service animal. Service dogs generally are very well trained and uh have a lifespan, especially with larger breeds, anywhere from 12 to maybe 14, 15, 16 years. And mini horses actually live a lot longer. She said 25 years to 40 years. So, with all the training and expense that goes into a service animal, a mini horse might actually be a better choice for someone for being able to have longevity. And uh I thought that that really the whole program that we presented was very, very helpful and in the resources that were offered. And of course, those resources can be found for episode number 75, Service Dogs in the Dental Office, for anyone who wants to get a little bit more information. And then I think probably my favorite or maybe my most impactful to me podcast that we had provided was the role of the safety coordinator. And there's such a need for someone to be appointed into this position, but dental practices need to recognize that it does take extra time and we need to provide that person with appropriate resources. Mary was uh quick to point out that OSHA says someone must be in charge and appointed as the OSHA coordinator. So if someone, let's say, leaves a practice, who is responsible for taking over and filling in that particular spot or role? If we don't have someone, we may be in violation with OSHA. She also shared with us a story that will kind of just, you know, shook me to my toes, where someone who wasn't well trained in dentistry was assigned the role of the uh sterilization tech. And she was told about autoclave pouches and how there was a black line that would appear when sterilization had occurred. So there's a color change. And apparently she didn't understand that that was chemically treated black line. So, in her role, without knowing specifically how to perform infection control properly, uh, she put a black line with a met with a marking pen across sterilization pouches to indicate that they had been sterilized, but they hadn't been. But she said that she was trained to demonstrate that the work was done when there was a black line across the autoquave bag. So there were many different things that we discussed, but uh sterilization is a critical job. And the person that uh serves that role must understand what they're doing. Without a background in dentistry, uh the compliance divas provided some excellent resources. And one of those resources is the OSAP, the Organization for Safety of Sepsis and Prevention. And then there's also some fabulous resources on the CDC website, as well as a certificate that one can earn to become certified in dental infection prevention and control. So the links to all of that information is available on the compliance divas website. And that's a, you know, again, another thing, a favorite thing about my podcast is that, uh, or our podcast, I guess I should say, is that uh we're we give such valuable information that you can simply click on and download. Now, Mary, uh, you wanted to share some information with us. Can I go ahead and call upon you?

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Absolutely, Leslie. And I I can't believe that we are going to be starting our third year of this podcast. It seems in some ways like it was yesterday that we started, and in other ways it seems like the COVID pandemic, which sort of burst this podcast, is a previous life. And one we kind of want to forget about, I think, in in some cases. I had a hard time picking out what were my favorite um podcast episodes because they're all my favorites. I think that what we do to decide on topics and research those topics and bring those resources to everyone is is such a, I believe, a valuable tool that we bring to our to our listeners. We know that those folks working in the in the practices out there are busy doing dentistry, busy getting through their day, and don't have a lot of time to keep up on what is the most current information. And certainly we're not having all the changes in guidance. And guidelines and so forth that we had in the middle of the pandemic, but things do change. And one of the roles that we fulfill is bringing that information to our listeners and making sure that the information we bring is accurate as well. So we always tie our information to reliable sources, if you will, OSHA, CDC, World Health Organization, OSAP, and other experts in whatever topic it is, and try to keep it as varied as we can because I think it was Linda that you had said it's not just about infection control. We look at um HIPAA, we look at other all kinds of issues that could affect a dental practice that could have some regulatory um effect or some regulatory influence. So I think that what we do is try to be the most valuable resource out there for our listeners. And I'm just really proud of what we've done and how far we've come in in um providing these podcasts. And I look forward to the next three years of of our um collaboration together. So thank you to my fellow divas for all the hard work that you do and bring these wonderful episodes to our listeners.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

Mary, thank you very much. And that really caps it off nicely. This certainly is a labor of love, and it is um a resource bank. I when I lecture around the country, I tell my audiences that I can't spend a half an hour talking to you about exposure incidents, but you can go to the Compine Stevens website and there's a great podcast on that, or the importance of background checks, or uh any of the other topics that we talked about. And it would not be possible for us to do this on love alone. We do have some sponsors that support our podcasts, and I'd like to do a quick shout out. Our inaugural sponsor was Steracil. We've also had Air Techniques, uh Health First, White Wastewise, Dentist Safe, Man in Machine, Solmatex, and then our sustaining sponsor, Hugh Friedie, uh, has been uh very instrumental in helping us stay uh on top of being able to continue to provide you with this great information. So what we'd like to do is thank all of our listeners for uh listening to our podcast. And please uh do us this one favor for our anniversary. If you would just share this compliance divas podcast resource with your colleagues and ask them to download just one. I bet, you know, it's like uh eating a potato chip. You just can't eat one. If you listen to one, you're gonna want to listen to more. So, with that in closing, we bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating regulatory compliance to keep you on course. And please submit your questions to support at the compliancedevas.com and look to those fabulous resources that Mary mentioned that we put together to give you reliable and accurate information that you can print out and use in your own dental practice to help you excel when it comes to providing safe dental care to your patients. Thank you for joining us.