regulatory compliance: November 2010

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

HIPAA - Transactions and Code Sets

By Greg Garner
HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the HIPAA Administrative Simplification there are four separate standards: Transactions and Code Sets, the Privacy Rule, the Security Rule and National Identifier Standards. If we take a look at the Transactions and Codes Sets you will have a small look into how the medical billing takes place on your medical care received in a hospital or outpatient setting.

Basically, the code sets were developed to identify the diagnosis, hospital inpatient procedures, and drug and equipment codes. For billing purposes there are a couple of sets of codes used for the inpatient side of the house they want what will best describe what happened while the patient was inside the hospital. There are three sets of codes that are used for billing purposes.

Once the record or the whole record is received in the Patient Administration office of the hospital, they assign certain codes to the record which is then forwarded for reimbursement from your insurance company. Once HIPAA entered into the picture, it changed the way transactions were being sent and received. Now, there is a standard format used and the reimbursement methods are much quicker in receiving payments. This is due to the compliance of HIPAA and the patient's information being validated from the medical records.

There is a different set of codes used for outpatient services and equipment. The codes allow the further breakdown of professional services and technical services. The final set of codes is the Codes of Dental Procedures and is used by the Dental Arena. The Transactions and Code Sets Rule require the medical industry as well as all business associates comply with using the three sets of codes for consistency. It meets HIPAA compliance and the standard data formats and data sets are easier to follow for historical purposes to track and trend for projects with analysis.

When the employees receive their HIPAA training they will get a variety of subjects covered. The training talks about the patient, computer security, to what information is available in the patient's medical record and securing your office. Finally, you may hear about Transactions and Code Sets.

Environmental Law and Carbon Accounting

By Silas Inman
The energy industry and the environment are two things which have been tied together since the beginning of the industrialized world. It comes as no surprise that the Department of Industry (DOI) discussed environmental law for energy awareness month. Environmental law is a complex system of treaties, statutes, conventions, common law, and regulations. The idea behind the law is to govern the impact humans have on the environment in terms of pollution and natural resources.

Two of the most discussed environmental laws at this point are carbon taxes and cap and trade. The main ambition fueling these institutions is the reduction of carbon, specifically carbon dioxide, which is a byproduct of fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum and natural gas. Carbon taxes have gained support in multiple groups over the last few years. The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA) focuses on caps more than taxes. The ACESA is optimistic that these caps will create more jobs and give the United States an edge in the clean energy market.

Under cap and trade or carbon tax systems the economic incentives to lower carbon emissions can be substantial. In order to fully capitalize on a cap and trade system you would need to have a constant awareness of the amount of carbon being produced by your operations so that you can decide if you need to sell or buy carbon credits. In order to understand your carbon output you need to conduct carbon accounting which is generally a long process that is either carried out by an audit or through carbon inventories that will need to be accumulated and calculated in order to arrive at your organizations total carbon output. This can be an extremely long and expensive process.

Continuous Energy Management and Optimization (CEMO) contains powerful carbon accounting software that allows users to see the full picture of their carbon production in real-time for their facilities. The minute by minute information will show how energy efficiency or energy conservation is playing a role in your carbon reduction. The comprehensive dashboards will also factor in alternative energy sources or other carbon reducing practices. Without real-time information you are stuck waiting until an audit is completed or trying to guess your carbon reduction. You wouldn't trade stocks without watching the market and the same applies for carbon credit trading. Why use guess work when you can have the power of real-time information at your finger tips?

If you are interested in controlling your energy costs Silas Inman invites you to start monitoring and controlling your energy consumption with Forward Energy Solutions, Inc. It is extremely easy and cost effective to begin monitoring your energy consumption. Every second you wait to start controlling your energy consumption and costs could result in a catastrophic bill, many companies have even seen a return on their investment in less than a single day. Get started now.

Online Pharmacy Misbranding Issues

By D Cooley
Online pharmacy law is still in its infancy. While there have been significant legal developments in the past few years with respect to internet pharmacies selling controlled substances, including but not limited to the passing of the Ryan Haight Act, the law with respect to noncontrolled substance internet pharmacies remains undeveloped and incredibly ambiguous. The Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act regulates prescriptions of noncontrolled substances and, while it was written without internet pharmacies in mind, its misbranding provisions are utilized by federal prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of online pharmacies selling noncontrolled substances.

However, the misbranding provisions of the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act are incredibly ambiguous. The misbranding provisions only outlaw the dispensation of a noncontrolled substance prescription medication without a prescription. The question remains what constitutes a prescription under the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act. Interestingly, while the FFDCA utilizes the phrases "valid prescription" in some provisions, it does not utilize the phrase in the misbranding provisions.

Unlike the misbranding and adulteration provisions of the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, the Ryan Haight Act, which regulates the dispensation of controlled substances without a "valid prescription," actually defines valid prescription. Specifically, among other things, a valid prescription requires a face to face, in person medical examination from the prescribing physician under the Ryan Haight Act.

In short, internet pharmacy laws are incredibly complex and ambiguous. Consequently, individuals charged with misbranding or any violation of state and federal online pharmacy law, should absolutely consult a criminal defense internet pharmacy attorney.

Apostille Services for Your Legal Documents

By Michael D Harris
The apostille certificate verifies that the document to which it is attached is authentic and has been checked by the relevant authority in its country of origin. Once this legal certificate has been attached the document is legalised for use overseas and will be accepted by authorities in countries which have joined the Hague Convention. Many countries that have not joined the Convention also recognise apostilled documents.

Why is an apostille needed?

You may need an apostille certificate when an overseas company or government body has requested that you have a document legalised as proof of its authenticity.

Common examples when you may need to legalise your document include:

* Qualification documents when applying to work abroad
* Registering a birth in another country
* Birth certificates and certificates of no impediment for marriage abroad
* Education documents for international students returning to their home country
* Contracts, affidavits and powers of attorney for UK residents wishing purchase property abroad or enter into legal agreements
* Company documents when trading internationally Opening a personal or business bank account overseas
* This list is just an example of when the apostille may be required and is not a definitive list.

How to get an apostille stamp?

The apostille is usually issued by a government body. In the UK the apostille certificate is a paper attachment which is fixed permanently to your documents by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The documents will then be accepted as authentic in any of the Hague Convention countries. There are many service providers that can assist you with your legalisation. This makes the process a lot simpler and is the quickest option in many circumstances.

Whatever your reason for needing an apostille stamp or seal contact an apostille service provider for free advice. You may only need an apostille once so make sure your get it right.

The World of the Professional Auditor and Auditing Practices

By David D Sprake
Professional auditors generally examine various accounting records, bank statements, financial databases and other sources of financial information in an effort to ensure compliance with various banking laws. Some equate the necessity of a business audit to that of an annual health checkup for people. A company's healthy balance can actually make or break its future successes (or failures). Auditors incorporate standard accounting principles as they go about providing assurances that a company's statements are accurate and the company is in legal compliance. Every organization, generally speaking, is required to provide documentation via its financial reports to not only company shareholders, but also to various tax agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service, the media and the company's employees.

Often, and especially over the past several years, the demand for forensic accountants has grown and many of these financial professionals are finding themselves working alongside auditors in an effort to rectify discrepancies or to uncover illegal activities such as embezzlement and/or money laundering. Recent American cases, including the Enron and the more recent Bernie Madoff scandals, have resulted in tighter restrictions and new guidelines, especially within the U.S. Incorporating "generally acceptable accounting principles", also known as GAAP, auditors and accountants will ensure a company's management team is keeping a transparent approach to all of its business dealings. Further, auditors also ensure disclosures are made when necessary and in the proper format and context. While an internal audit will not necessarily negate the audits conducted by various federal agencies, they can surely allow for a smoother experience.

Most companies are aware that many certified public accountants approach their books with skepticism, or at a minimum, no preconceived notions of what they might or might not uncover. The best business accountants and auditors will maintain that stoic, yet professional, approach in order to provide an accurate audit.

In general accounting terms, the team of auditors and/or professional accountants will provide a "grade" or conclusion on the company's financial well being:

Qualified - The auditor was not able to gain full access to complete the audit or the statement is not considered satisfactory according to general accepted accounting principles

Unqualified - The auditor is designating the audit as sound with no major problems or discrepancies in the financial statements

Disclaimer - The auditor was unable to form an acceptable opinion on the fairness of the statements
Adverse - The financial statements provided to the auditor are not in compliance with general accepted accounting practices and do not fairly represent the company

Without financial audits by professional auditors, determining the credibility of businesses, whether national or global, is not possible. Auditing practices are carefully developed in an effort to gauge credibility, legality, success or when suspicious activities threaten the business. Not only that, but in some countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, the media plays a significant role in the form of a "public watchdog" and will report illegal activities by any company. The financial records are the one place where misstatements, mistruths or inaccuracies can be found.

Environmental Law and Carbon Accounting

What Happens After You Renew Your Company License Through the NMLS?

By Robin Gronsky
Starting November 1, 2010, all company mortgage licensees (mortgage bankers, mortgage lenders, and mortgage brokers and their branch offices) must renew the licenses that expire on December 31, 2010. For those of you who are licensed in states that transitioned onto the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) in 2008 or 2009, this transaction is old hat. For those of you who are renewing for the first time, you may be wondering about what the procedure is like. I have been helping clients with their NMLS renewals since 2008 so I've been down this road before.

The renewal process for most states starts with your using the NMLS to indicate which licenses you are renewing. You attest to your company record and pay the renewal and NMLS fees. You should be aware that there are still several states that are not renewing company licenses through the NMLS (although they may be renewing loan originator licenses through the NMLS). These states are CA-DRE, Hawaii, Maine, Florida, Utah-DFI, Nevada, Minnesota, and Delaware. If you are licensed in one of those states that are not renewing through the NMLS, you should have received your renewal license application and instructions already. If you have not, you should call your state licensing agency and request the renewal materials. You want to start the renewal process as early as you can.

Once your company has renewed its licenses through the NMLS, you need to review the jurisdictional checklist for each state in which your company is licensed. Print out the Renewals Checklist for each state and complete the Checklist. Send in each Checklist together with all additional documentation that is required to each state regulatory agency.

The state may take a few weeks to process your renewal application and additional documentation. If you have not sent in the additional documentation and checklist, the reviewer will post the items still needed on the Task List associated with your company's MU1 record. You need to keep checking to see if the Task List is changed. You can also view the company's license status by clicking on the Composite tab and looking at the View license/Registration List.

If you wait until the end of December to renew your licenses, it is likely that your renewal approval will not come through until some time in January. This creates problems for mortgage brokers whose investors will not let them close without a 2011 license. Don't wait until the last minute to renew.

How to Handle Unwanted Phone Calls From Telemarketers

By Mary D Cruz
Answering unexpected phone calls everyday from telemarketers can be one of the most annoying and fighting invasions of privacy a person may experience. It is a major inconvenience that every household may experience and is very stressful to deal with. Is it not annoying when you rush out from the bathroom halfway done taking a bath, or get out from under the car covered with grease, just to pick up the phone and only to find out an unknown caller is trying to sell you something you do not even need? Every household wants to have a quiet dinner at home or enjoy long hours of uninterrupted sleep during weekends. They simply do not want to answer phone calls from someone they do not know who is trying to sell something over the phone and get their credit card or bank account details.

With the emergence of telemarketing call centers, more and more telemarketers were produced, calling every household to sell their products or services. Why? Because it is the most cost-effective marketing strategy and communication technique available.

Because of the rapid growth of telemarketing call centers, several laws were passed and amended. One of these is the national Do Not Call law or DNC law. All you need to do is have your home phone number including wireless phone number registered to the DNC list. Unsolicited calls are prohibited from calling these listed phone numbers, otherwise, a complaint can be filed against the telemarketing company that the caller is connected with. If you have not registered your number yet to the DNC list, and if you happen to answer a phone call from these people, wait until the caller has identified himself or herself and the company he or she represents. In this way, you can take note of the company's complete information. This is important when filing a complaint against the company. Then you may answer politely and ask him or her to put your number to their internal DNC list and they will never call your number again.

Unfortunately, the DNC law has not completely eliminated the number of unwanted telemarketing calls. However, there are other ways on how to handle these unwanted calls. First, it is important that you have a caller ID. In this way, you can recognize a call from an unknown caller or from a telemarketing company and you can either ignore it, or answer it and inform him or her right away that you are on the DNC list. Second, exercise the freedom of choice. If a telemarketer does manage to get you on the phone, remember that you have the freedom to choose whether or not you participate in the call. You may simply hang up on him or her rather than argue that you do not need their product or service. This can also help you from bursting out your temper or anger for being annoyed. If you happen to receive harassing calls from these telemarketers, you may inform your local phone company so that they can set up a trap on your phone line. In this way, the phone company can determine the phone number from which the harassing calls have originated. You must take note of the time and date these calls are received. The phone company does not charge you for the trap set up.

Oil Refineries Fight Against California Environmental Law

By Carl Gompf
Oil refiners are hard at work to combat and suspend a crucial California environmental law that requires companies to reduce their carbon footprint. This opposition has gotten supporters of clean technology to fight back to make sure this law stays intact and that oil refineries are held accountable to follow the regulations to reduce their amount of pollution.

Proposition 23, an initiative on the November ballot, would suspend the 2006 law that requires greenhouse gas emissions in the state to be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020. This law was the first of its kind in the United States to cut down on greenhouse emissions and force strict regulations on oil refineries to comply.

If this law is suspended, it will make it that much more difficult for any other state in the future to push through legislation to combat pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and move forward with cleaner technologies to replace the heavy use of oil.

Oil refiners Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp., both based in San Antonio, have given about $4 million and $1.5 million so far in support of Prop. 23. Earlier this month, an oil refining subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc. contributed $1 million, according to the filings.

Refiners are among the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in California, and would incur high costs to comply with the law, known as AB 32. It is obvious that these companies want to avoid paying any more costs, so they are trying to throw as much money at the situation as they can to attempt to convince legislators that them saving some money is more important to the nation rather than reducing the amount of pollution the release into the atmosphere.

At the same time, environmental groups and individuals, including clean-technology investors, have made a stand to oppose Proposition 23. Both the former Secretary of State, George Shultz, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are also highly vocal opponents of Prop. 23, and have expressed their support of cleaner technologies for the future.

The ballot measure, if passed, would suspend AB 32 until the state unemployment rate drops to 5.5% or lower for one year. California's unemployment rate was 12.3% in July, and economic forecasts have the rate remaining above 8% for the next five years, according to the nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst's Office.

Deciding what measures to take that will determine the well-being of our planet based solely on unemployment numbers is not something that the majority of people agree with. In a July Field Poll, 36% of likely voters in California said they would vote in favor of the measure, while 48% said they would oppose Prop. 23.

While opponents of Proposition 23 may not be able to outspend oil refining companies for support, the general consensus of California residents remains that they are ready to move away from oil as the only source of energy and power, and recognize the future of clean technologies to greatly reduce the negative impact that human consumption has placed upon the Earth.

The World of the Professional Auditor and Auditing Practices

HIPAA - Transactions and Code Sets

HIPAA and the Security Rules

By Greg Garner
If we review the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, the Privacy and Security Rules contained four standards which included: Transactions and Code Sets, Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and National Identifier Standards. This is a brief overview of the Security Rule.

The people wanted to know that their healthcare information was private and safe. This is what the HIPAA was enacted for and they wanted to understand how it was going to happen and who was going to monitor the process. There were several things that took place in the healthcare industry that was the same throughout. Employees would attend HIPAA training, if they used a computer then emails with personal health information would be sent by digital signature or be password protected.

By having the same processes throughout the medical industry, the hospitals and doctors' offices made it easier to monitor and report their compliance to their HIPAA Program Mangers. The next phase was to lock up private health care information on patients whether it was written, spoken, or electronically transferred would be handled the same way. Doors and drawers would be locked. Electronic files would be digitally signed or password protected. If employees left the department their access would be turned off.

All medical services had to show that they could provide privacy and availability of the private health information; they have to protect against security threats, protect against potential security threats to the private health information, and guarantee compliance by the employees. On-going updates to security rules and measures must be maintained. This can easily be handled by the annual HIPAA training.

HIPAA training now includes computer safety too. It discusses the physical constraints of information like logging off your computer and locking up your CDs. There are also reasonable safeguards that you can take towards protecting information. If a person wants to use your computer and you have never seen them before then ask them for identification and then ask them why they need your computer. It takes everyone to maintain privacy and security of patient's information and that includes you too.

Missouri Workers' Compensation Settlement Case Illustrates Importance of Settlement Language

By Russell S Whittle, Esq.
On August 18, 2010, Missouri Layers Media published an article explaining how, in a Missouri WCMSA case, the inherent uncertainty of the Workers' Compensation Review Center's procedure and unfamiliarity with the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP) can combine to create costly consequences.

Workers' Compensation Medicare Set Aside Subjects Carrier to Motion to Enforce Settlement

Briefly, the parties to a workers' compensation case agreed to settle the matter for $85,000.00 for the indemnity benefits and had projected what appears to be approximately $240,000.00 as a Medicare set-aside amount. The settlement paperwork submitted to the court apparently included language that the final settlement amount was to be determined and paid upon receipt of the MSA determination from CMS with no explanation as to what would occur should the CMS determination fail to match the defense's future medical projection. Predictably, CMS determined that the parties' MSA was $189,000.00 too low to protect Medicare's interests. The carrier had resisted payment of the increased amount, according to the article, until a petition to enforce the settlement was filed.

The reported case illustrates critical points when attempting to settle a workers compensation case that involves a Medicare beneficiary or an injured worker with a "reasonable expectation" of Medicare eligibility within thirty (30) months of settlement. Without an express statement of the amount that CMS determines appropriate to protect Medicare's interests, no certainty can be had. Settlement paperwork that establishes a settlement amount contingent upon a CMS allocation leaves the parties with no choice but to accept the CMS amount. CMS submission must be done well before a settlement of future medical benefits is negotiated. A set aside allocation, no matter how reasonable, that has not been previously reviewed and approved by CMS before settlement, is subject to increase or modification based upon a number of factors. While many would argue that those factors are, at times, arbitrary and inconsistent, there is virtually no reason why the parties to the case reported above ended up in such a sad situation. The Missouri example appears to show us that, despite the well entrenched workers' compensation practice encouraging MSA submission, the litigants unprepared to deal with the CMS review process can expect problems in their cases.

Settlement Negotiation and Pre-Approved CMS Future Medical Cost Projection Can Alleviate Enforcement Woes

Several steps are recommended that may avoid the situation described in the Missouri case example. Settlement negotiation should be preceded by a realistic projection of future medical costs. CMS submission of a WCMSA can be made at any time in the litigation process. If the parties properly recognize that their case may impact Medicare's rights as a secondary payer, Medicare should be dealt with early in the settlement process rather than as an afterthought. If the parties disagree with a CMS determination, settlement language must be crafted to determine which party will be responsible for an overage (if any) and how the difference in the amounts will be handled. Additionally, submitting settlement paperwork to a judge or hearing officer for approval prior to receiving a CMS determination of an appropriate amount or before receipt of a reasonable, defensible cost projection sets the stage for serious problems. Remember also that CMS submission is not required, even in workers' compensation cases. In the Missouri debacle, the parties might well have agreed to settle based upon the projection provided. While their settlement may have been subject to later action by Medicare based upon the exhaustion of funds, the argument still could be presented that Medicare's interest were taken into account and that the parties acted in good faith.

For litigants and practitioners, ignorance or inattention to the options available when dealing with CMS and Medicare compliance will result in workers' compensation cases like the one described above. Likewise, failure to craft appropriate Workers' Compensation settlement language may seriously impact your case.

For litigants and practitioners, Gould and Lamb suggests that, as illustrated in the Missouri case, that ignorance or inattention to the options available when dealing with CMS and Medicare compliance will result in workers' compensation cases like the one described above. Likewise, failure to craft appropriate settlement language may seriously impact your case.

HIPAA and the Privacy Rule

By Greg Garner
When the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by congress in 1996 it brought forth four separate standards: Transactions and Code Sets, the Privacy Rule, the Security Rule and National Identifier Standards. If we look at the basic overview of the Privacy Rule we can pick it apart to see where the changes affected the healthcare industry.

Of course, the Privacy Rule changed normal daily activities in physician offices. Everyone had to receive HIPAA training and then had to ensure that all the patient health information (PHI) was protected in their office by locking up the files ensuring its protection. If there were files or computers in the room they had to be locked at the end of the day. Screen savers were used so if the computer registered inactivity it would automatically log off and the next authorized person would have to use their password to log on.

When the Privacy Rule came out, with it came six new patient rights ranging from the ability to obtain copies of their medical records, the ability for the patient to request an amendment to their health information, everyone who had access to their information, patients can request to be contacted prior to releasing information, they can request a restriction be placed on their health information and they have the right to file a complaint if they feel there have been HIPAA violations. Providing patients HIPAA education are a great way to further their understanding on the protection of their health information.

HIPAA training and practices in the healthcare industry have come a long way. It has been almost fifteen years and we continue to improve our methods in protecting the patient's information. We spend less time trying to figure out how we are going to keep the patient information private and more time on improving the processes we have in place making it harder to get the patient information. As the technology keeps improving, we will continue to be challenged with the moving parts of the equipment and firewalls needed to secure all the information appropriately.

What Is HIPAA?

By Greg Garner
Well, if you want to know what HIPAA is you have to go to the internet unless you work in the healthcare field. HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It was enacted by congress in 1996. It provides the patient privacy to their health information. It also gives them privacy when it comes to any treatment plans they are receiving and if information is to be given out the patient has to provide permission. Unless it is going to another medical company or going to a billing service so a claim can be filed against the patient's health insurance.

If you work with a computer then you also have to deal with the privacy and security rules that pertain to the electronic records of the patient's information and care. One of the standards that have been applied now to the patients unique identifiers instead of using their social security number. This unique identifier can be used for four standards and they include the Transactions and Code Sets, the Privacy Rule, the Security Rule, and National Identifier Standards. Everyone employed in these areas will have had HIPAA training and follow the HIPAA guidance and policy.

There will be times when a patient's information will be shared and it will happen when it involves ancillary services like the pharmacy or laboratory, dental practices, nursing homes anything that would involve medical treatment or care. Financial institutions are starting to follow the same rules since the outbreak of identity theft. Tighter controls are being placed on a person's personal information. HIPAA training covers a multitude of subjects from a patient's personal information to unique and strong passwords for a computer and how to secure your workstation.

HIPAA protects your medical information, treatment plans for your care, your health insurance, billing information and any other facility or entity who must comply with HIPAA regulations. People go through training as a new employee, annually, and whenever new instructions or guidance comes out. This is to make sure everyone remains abreast of the best way to keep your information private and safe for you. Everyone at one point or another will need their information protected too.

Properly Managing Passwords for Health Information

By Greg Garner
As everyone knows we have been growing quickly in the arena for protecting personal healthcare information. Even though it started back in 1996 with the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) there have been continuous changes on how this is to be done. When you work in a hospital or any type of medical facility you are always looking at process improvements and HIPAA training is an annual requirement to review. Most of the information stays the same but as we have grown in the technology field there are policies and procedures that have come out providing us guidance on how to move forward.

One of the areas we can improve on is how we can properly manage our passwords when we are protecting the personal healthcare information on patients. In a medical facility is the ultimate responsibility of the security officer for protecting the information. Everyone has to do their part to make it happen. If you help in protecting the access to your workstation then this is one less area that would be available for someone to place a computer virus. If you ensure proper disposal of computers, CDs and other materials that contain electronic personal health information than this contributes to keeping information safe.

When you take your HIPAA training passwords are subject that is discussed because you want a strong password and one that someone cannot easily figure out. Most places now have a policy on your user identification and authentication and selecting a strong password is part of this. Suggestions are never to use sports, family names, dates of birth or hobbies. As it is mentioned in HIPAA training you will never want to write your password down, post it on your wall, or place it in your desk drawer. Never let anyone use your password.

Sometimes you may see this happen for the sake of convenience. Stop and say something to them. Do not let it continue to happen because it put unnecessary risk on protected information. In 2005 the HIPAA security regulations became effective and everyone needs to ensure full compliance. Properly managing passwords to protect health information is a responsibility for everyone.

Why Is HIPAA Important to Patients?

By Greg Garner
Do you remember growing up and wondering when your mom would stop telling the whole world what was wrong with you. It felt like every time her girlfriend came over for a cup of tea, the topic of discussion was always you and what the doctors found this time. You started to feel like a specimen in a jar. The older you got the more anxious it made you. By the time you were sixteen years old you felt like the neighbor knew more about you than you did and she could actually take you to the doctors and give them the history on your health problems. In 1996, when congress enacted the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) it all came to a screeching halt. Your personal health information became private and for once you actually liked it.

You knew you were no longer going to be dinner conversation at the neighbor's house. If you were, you could actually tell them to stop talking about you. There were many, many people who felt the same way and that were relieved because they had health situations that if their companies had found out about it, they could lose their jobs. It would not have been to unsatisfactory work but diagnosis at the time of disease that people knew little to nothing about. HIPAA training became mandated at all the hospitals and healthcare facilities. Patients were being told upfront that their health information was private and would only be released to another medical company or billing office.

Information for patients became so limited it was hard to find out if a patient was being discharged from the hospital unless you spoke directly to the patient. As you sit through HIPAA training and review the various subjects, Mental Health is one of the areas that the information is even tighter. The patient themselves cannot have their own record to review what the Psychiatrist has written for a diagnosis or treatment plan. As people sit through HIPAA training or sit for an exam it will be surprising to see what you learn that you can and cannot talk about anymore. It truly does mean that a person's health care information is private.

Physical Security of Patients' Sensitive Information

By Greg Garner
As the computer field grew enormously in 2005 the HIPAA security regulations became effective and everyone needed to ensure full compliance. Most places do this yearly with their HIPAA training program and through their departmental meetings and staff training sessions. This was many years after congress enacted the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA). The purpose of this was to provide a patient protection and privacy to their health information.

In 1986, when people were worried about their own health information being discussed and talked about at the kitchen table was a time when HTLV III was first coming out and there was not enough information for anyone to share other than it was a terrible disease and had a very bad outcome. There were medical diagnoses being made about people with cancer and they did not want their employers finding out in fear of losing their jobs. It was a time when people were demanding privacy and were finally able to get it.

This did change the way everyone in a hospital or doctors office had to handle a patient's medical record. There had to be quite a bit of training, it was new and a major change for everyone so HIPAA training was available and given constantly. For the right reasons, people are resistant to change but this was one that was not going away. There were things employees had to take into consideration that were taken for granted previously. For instance, talking openly about a patient treatment plan now had to be discussed in a conference room with the door closed. If someone called about a patient, very little information could be given about their status unless the patient had given permission for you to talk to them.

When we bring up the subject of physical security we are talking about workstation access and facility security. At a workstation you want to have your screen facing inward and away from outside eyes looking into the screen to see the information displayed. Maintaining HIPAA training and compliance are an ongoing part of training and educational practices that will be in place and part of everyone's normal training schedule. Focus on keeping the patient in mind and remember you are there for them. Remember you may be a patient one day and you will want your privacy too.

Protect Patient Information

By Greg Garner
If you were someone who was born back in the 1970s and were hitting your late teenage years you remember the initial start of HIV and AIDS. Since there was hardly anything known about the disease it put the world in a panic mode. Since then there have been many training materials produced and a lot of educational products made for everyone. People discuss the disease more openly. There is medication available and you are no longer rejected from even applying from a job. In the beginning it was a tragedy if someone found out. This also led to congress enacted the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1986. The purpose was to protect patient information and maintain a patient's privacy. This is also when HIPAA training started for everyone.

We still do this today and we do it with more intensity than we did it back in 1996. When HIPAA first started people were still trying to figure things out. In fact, they knew they had to provide HIPAA training but to what extent. The program was just starting and it would progress over the years to be something substantial for every healthcare facility and healthcare provider and worker. The main focus is to keep patients confidential and from the public. Sounds easy right? Now, take into consideration an innocent conversation that is addressing patient care being provided to an individual and the treatment that the patient is receiving.

Would you be able to discuss it openly without giving away any clues as to who you were talking about if anyone walked by the nurses' station? It can become difficult. What about in an elevator? When you take HIPAA training these are examples that are used during the classes to show you how easy it is to provide information without being aware of it. You may be in an elevator and catch up with one of the members of the team treating the patient. You know that certain medications are making them sick and you want to tell the provider this information. Do you think you could talk about an issue with the team member without giving away too much information to others in the elevator?

How Does Being FSA Regulated Impact Your Business

By Thomas Lindeyer
Every business conducting financial services business is subject to the detailed regulations that are created by national and international regulators. The history of financial services business has a very long history of truthful and reputable companies which have always looked out for the best interests of their clients. Though, there are some companies which have abused the financial system, making use of it to obtain illegal gains and these few rotten apples have made it vital for every business to be subjected to the demands of FSA Compliance and regulation.

For many businesses, these requirements may sound like a burden on a business but in a well run company it's possible to put into place compliance systems and processes that protect both the people and the firms operating in financial services.

So for a firm looking to maintain FSA Compliance there are normally several steps they must take in order to keep their business in good standing with any regulatory agency. Firstly, it is important to identify what regulations apply to your company and which ones hold no significance to your business efforts. This'll instantly save you time and cash as you seek to simplify the FSA regulated demands.

Next you have to see how the applicable regulations impact your business efforts so that you could make sure that all your company's policies meet the demands and expectations of FSA Compliance. Finally, it is vital that your company educate your associates on the importance of these regulations and how your company is set to perform itself on the various financial transactions it completes on a daily basis.

While this might seem like a simple enough task on paper, the reality is that as a FSA regulated business you will discover that there are several regulations relevant to your company and a slide of changes that are applied on a regular basis. Unless you have a person in your company dedicated to keeping track of regulation changes and reviewing new regulations, it could be a simple procedure to fail to meet FSA Compliance.

The significance that is related to this need to remain compliant has several businesses looking for the knowledge and services of specialist companies dedicated to meeting FSA regulated requirements. This would aid the business to keep an eye on any new or developing regulations and would also aid to stay updated.

Outsourcing isn't something many businesses like to venture into, however, when your company is looking to compete in the financial industry it is vital that you keep up to date on FSA Compliance. Your very best opportunity to accomplish this goal is to utilise the professional services of a company looking to help your business in staying FSA regulated.

The Danger of Pooled Water

By James Witherspoon
Even a thin layer of water can easily cause a vehicle to loose control and a driver can quickly find themselves in a dangerous and uncontrollable spin. Pooled water on a roadway is a dangerous situation that can arise in an instant. Water pooling, whether from rain, a faulty sprinkler, or any other source, can put a driver at danger of loosing control of his or her vehicle. Even if pooled water requires a small but sharp adjustment by the driver, they can quickly put themselves and others at risk for an accident.

Water pooling can be a threat in a number of different situations, not just during rainy weather. Any standing water can result in erratic or uncontrolled motion of a vehicle. Standing water is also especially dangerous for motorcyclists, who may quickly find themselves without of control of their vehicles and with little to no recourse for preventing an accident. The amount of water does not have to be great to greatly reduce the friction between a tire and the road.

Friction is crucial to a driver's ability to control his or her vehicle. Friction is a oppositional force that is exerted by the road on the tire that is used to propel a vehicle in its intended direction. If something greatly reduces that friction in just one wheel, it can cause an instability in the entire vehicle that a driver may not be able to react to without causing an accident. Also, water that is introduced into the brakes may hinder their ability to exert the friction needed to slow the vehicle. Pooled water can greatly reduce the necessary friction to safely operate a motor vehicle.

Municipalities and states are responsible for maintaining their roadways in such a way that their drivers are safe. If pooled water dangerously reduces friction on a street, a city or state may be liable for the improper maintenance of that surface. Ensure that your roadways are properly maintained by reporting dangerous pooling of water as soon as you notice it.

The Future eDiscovery Arms Race: It Is All About the Semantics

By JD Morris
Over the last five years, there has been a confluence of eDiscovery software, case law, information governance policies, and information technology integration, which have all helped shaped today's eDiscovery market. As we look toward the future, we ask ourselves how to continue to optimize eDiscovery to intelligently reduce data volumes, efficiently decrease collection quantity, and streamline the review process, while also delivering the highest possible document accuracy, reliability, and repeatability. Finding relevant ESI is becoming more challenging for organizations, as ESI volume increases and is spread across email systems, file shares, and laptop/desktops. To complicate matters further, attorneys are expanding discovery motions to include new ESI repositories, such as SharePoint and other collaborative tools, which further increase ESI volume and complicates identification and collection. So, how can the problem be addressed to balance the opposing constraints of ESI volume, eDiscovery expense and relevant document precision and accuracy? The answer is simple, but will be challenging to implement. The future eDiscovery arms race is in the development of advanced, intelligent analytics capabilities. In other words, it is all about the semantics.

The first advance in reducing non-relevant ESI collection (or ESI culling) was simple file identification. Software delivered the capability to identify file types quickly and easily to exclude operating system files (e.g. CABs) and other program executables files (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Numbers, Keynote, etc.), which are resident on all computers and do not contain any relevant ESI. File identification technology was a quantum leap. It reduced collection volume by 50% to 60% over the traditional brute force forensic collection, which copies entire disk drives. The second advance was Boolean keyword search, which has been a powerful eDiscovery tool. Over time, keyword search has become more sophisticated with the addition of keyword spelling variants and root word variations. This increased the keyword search accuracy by including common misspellings and root variants, like talk vs. talking. However, keyword search requires a priori knowledge for what one is looking, which is problematic and a limiting success factor. As valuable as it is, keyword searches often include many non-relevant documents (false positives) or exclude too many relevant documents (false negatives). The complication is within our language usage. We have a synonymy effect, which is that one of two or more words in the same language have the same meaning (as in "student" and "pupil"), as well as the polysemy effect, which is that many individual words have more than one meaning. The impact of polysemy on search complexity is as follows:

Polysemy is a major obstacle for all computer systems that attempt to deal with human language. In English, most frequently used terms have several common meanings. For example, the word fire can mean: a combustion activity; to terminate employment; to launch, or to excite (as in fire up). For the 200 most-polysemous terms in English, the typical verb has more than twelve common meanings, or senses. The typical noun from this set has more than eight common senses. For the 2000 most-polysemous terms in English, the typical verb has more than eight common senses and the typical noun has more than five[1].

The English language complexity impacts our ability to search and identify relevant information with efficiency, accuracy, and precision. If we consider the addition of other languages on the identification and search challenge, we have to tackle the semantic differences, as well as additional translation complexities between languages.

What are the next steps in search and identification analytics technologies? There are nascent concept search capabilities in today's market, which have been developed to circumvent the limitations of Boolean keyword search when dealing with large, unstructured ESI. The idea is to develop the ability to search on an idea and retrieve responses, which are relevant to the concept of the idea. With synonymy and polysemy effects, an idea can be represented by numerous loosely related terms. Research in the following areas of concept search hold promise to increase search relevance and accuracy:

1. Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD)[2]
WSD technologies help derive the actual meanings of the words, and their underlying concepts, rather than by simply matching character strings like keyword search technologies. Research has progressed steadily to the point where WSD systems achieve sufficiently high levels of accuracy on a variety of word types and ambiguities.

2. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA)[3]
LSA is a natural language processing technique that uses vectorial semantics (documents and queries are represented as vectors with in a linear algebra matrix) to analyze relationships between a set of documents and the terms they contain and how the terms are correlated. After analyzing, LSA constructs a set of related concepts to the document and terms therein. In other words, LSA searches documents for themes within the language usage and extracts the concepts, which are common to the documents.

3. Local Co-Occurrence Statistics[4]
Local co-Occurrence Statistics is a technique that counts the number of times of pairs of term appear together (co-occur) within a given period, where a period is equal to a predetermined window of terms or sentences within a document or documents.

Each of the above techniques by themselves will not likely be a complete solution to the eDiscovery concept search challenge. However, these methods combined and intelligently integrated together within an overarching concept search paradigm will be the start in the right direction. As focus increases on conceptual search technologies, the winning products will likely have the best analytical technologies.

Food Safety Training Is A Legal Requirement In The UK

By Dave Summers
Under Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs it stipulates that all food handling staff must be trained to the level of their job.

There are several levels of food training, namely, induction or level 1, level 2 for food handlers dealing with open food, level 3 for supervisors and level 4 for managers/proprietors/trainers. The qualifications must be accredited, which means they are recognised by educational bodies such as Ofqual, DCELLS and CCEA and form part of the Qualification and Credit Framework. If a company elects to deliver the qualifications in-house, then they must utilise a trainer who delivers accredited qualifications, to ensure consistent quality.

Training is defined as the process of imparting knowledge and understanding to a member of staff, it is not just attending a course, competency is far more important than certification.

There are many benefits to training including:

Ability to produce safe food.
Reduction of customer complaints.
Reduction of food wastage and profit.
Happy, healthy, motivated work teams.
Increase of self worth of staff and job satisfaction.
Compliance with legal requirement.

There are many ways to train staff in food hygiene, but the best are either in a training room or online training, for staff that can't get to a training course, or do not have the time.

Level 2 food safety courses cover the following subjects:

Introduction to food safety, microbiology, food poisoning/foodborne disease, personal hygiene, pest control, food premise design and construction, cleaning, legislation.

Level 3 and 4 cover the same syllabus but the exam structures are different. Level 3 consists of 60 multiple choice questions, whereas level 4 consists of multiple choice and long answers. The courses cover the following subjects:

Introduction to food safety, microbiology, food contamination and control, food poisoning, foodborne disease, personal hygiene and training, food hazards from purchase to serving, food spoilage and preservation, design and construction of food premises and equipment, cleaning and disinfection, integrated pest management, supervisory management, food safety legislation.

If a person wants to train food hygiene, they must gain the level 4 award in food safety and train for or hold a recognised training qualification such as a teacher's training qualification (PGCE, Cert Ed) or a professional trainer's certificate, the latter of which is to be replaced with the PTLLS certificate.

Many companies offer online training in food safety, issuing an in-house certificate. The problem is that this is rarely accepted by employers or enforcement authorities as it is not an accredited qualification. There is only one company in the UK offering accredited online food safety qualifications at levels 2, 3 and 4. They also offer an accredited level 2 award in health and safety in the workplace.

Filing for Social Security Benefits As a Veteran

By James Witherspoon
Filing for disability benefits with the Social Security Administration is a rather complicated process. Qualifying for benefits might require rounds of appeals and a hearing with an administrative judge. Also, Social Security disability benefits are awarded either in their entirety, or not at all. This is different from the Veterans' Affairs disability benefits that veterans are used to, which award disabled vets based on a percentage of how much they are determined to be disabled.

General Procedures

For a veteran to apply for social security disability benefits, he or she must:

* Make sure the VA medical center handling their paperwork submits the medical records to the appropriate Social Security Administration officer. In fact, some vets have had to personally get copies of their records and provide them to the SSA office.
* File the initial claim. The SSA representative, with the input of a physician, will make a decision on the application. Unfortunately, about sixty eight percent of the initial claims are denied.
* The applicant can then either file a new claim if he or she feels there was a mistake made, or he or she may file for an appeal, called a request for reconsideration.
* Following the same procedure, the request for reconsideration is examined. Unfortunately, this has a higher denial rate, with about eighty five percent of requests being denied.
* An applicant can then file for a request for a hearing with an administrative judge. You must file the appeal within 60 days of the reconsideration decision. This is also when new evidence must be presented for the judge to consider.

NFA Trust Information

By Tom A. Higgin
Suppressors, machine guns and other items might be procured having a legal entity known as an NFA Trust, but must be registered as an NFA class 3 item. As the trust is not regarded as a man or woman but alternatively another entity, the CLEO (chief law enforcement officer) with in the city where you live is not required to give his mandatory approval of transfer documents (ATF Form 4). Sometimes retired military and police personnel have known to struggle with getting approval for transfer documents (ATF Form 4) as many CLEO's have been reluctant to sign off on these documents over the last few years.

NFA trusts for Texas residents can expertly be prepared by a lawyer and lets them obtain class 3 weapons including SBR's (Short Barrel Rifles). Revocable in nature, these legal entities can be utilized in sister states, under their laws, after possible revision by using a law firm.

A will is quite similar to a revocable trust. For almost any the purpose of taxes, it's recognize to be a Grantor Trust with any income that is taxable to the Grantor of the trust(Creator). Who actually runs the trustees (the entity) together with all their powers is built into the trust. Also having a designation by the trust is whom this trust was specifically created for, the beneficiaries of the trust. Administrators of the trust are set forth should the trustee be unable to serve for dies. For the use and benefit of every trust_asset by the trustees and beneficiaries throughout the existence of the trust, provisions are created which may last for multiple generations. The trust has in place procedures for trust asset distribution after the time of termination. This allows any class 3 weapon that was put into it to be allowed to remain in trust for many years, to be enjoined over multiple generations, and does not require a constant transfer upon the death of the grantor or a single beneficiary.

With an ATF Form 4, which names the trust as the transferee, any NFA items purchased in the name of the trust might be conveyed to the same identical trust. Using a Bill-of-Sale documenting the transfer of all non-NFA property transferred to the trust, can be used as verification about what this trust owns decades after a death of the grantor of this trust. All NFA merchandise transferred in to a NFA Trust are subject to a federal transfer tax of $200.00 per each item.

Know How To Find The Opportunities To Meet FSA Compliance Regulations

By Thomas Lindeyer
You will find that there is lots of demand which exist with maintaining FSA compliance, when you are a company that has involvement in the financial service industry. The financial services industry represents some of the most strongly regulated industries because of the significant influence it has not only on a person's finances but on the country's financial system in general.

For a company which is trying to conduct financial services business or looking to widen their offering must address the issue of FSA Compliance. There are many steps they can take to achieve this goal but, the detailed and constantly fluctuating environment of regulation could make it difficult for a business to achieve and maintain compliance on their own thus creating demand for expert help.

The thought of compliance manuals has always been a great help for a business which is trying to meet the regulatory demands of the business environment they're trying to enter. The problem with FSA compliance manuals is that when one is generated, it is outdated and needing revision in a very short time period. Regulators are continuously responding to new demands, products, technology and laws and have an obligation to create and maintain a responsive regulatory framework. For a company which is seeking to keep updated with FSA Compliance, these constant changes of regulation make it difficult to keep it's FSA manual up to date.

This is why many companies that are looking to cope with FSA Compliance seek the aid of professional compliance consultants such as CCL to not merely get them started, but also to keep up to date information on any relevant polices or regulations. By using a professional agency you will get an online compliance manual that provides the user with the highest level of knowledge and understanding that is constantly updated. Not just will a company specialising in FSA Compliance offer for you the opportunity to stay updated on regulations, they could even provide your associates with specific training on regulations to ensure that your associates can also aid you achieve your goal of remaining compliant.

You will have to abandon the thought of managing regulations on your with out-dated FSA handbooks and search for the expertise of an expert if you are searching for the goal of FSA compliance. With the right consultancy you will find your businesses best opportunity to meet your compliance goals.

In Office Risk Assessment Training for the Best Way to Comply

By Shane Piter
There are certain rules that every office has to comply with - even if they don't feel they have the time. All staff, for example, must undergo risk assessment training to make sure that their work stations and working practices are not damaging them in any way. Many employers find this necessary evil an extraordinary inconvenience: mainly because they think they have to pack all their workers off to a training course, thereby losing their productivity for an entire day or more.

Actually, this isn't the case. These types of training can be conducted from the office, more or less according to the availability of the staff in question. Companies like Comply Wise deliver extremely robust risk assessment training software, which trains each staff member individually in his or her own time- completely, removing the need for sending staff on long training days when they would be better employed in the office.

In many cases, a assessment of risk like a VDU can be completed in around an hour: at the end of the day, say, or just after lunch. All online risk development courses can be saved at any time, too - so if an employee is in the middle of one, and has to attend a meeting or has some urgent work come in, then he or she simply hits "save" and returns to the questionnaire at a later date.

Modern risk assessment training modules are really very clever. For the most part, they use multiple choice question parameters to get trainees to deliver a really clear picture of the true state of their working environment. The questions, which are designed according to psychological ideas as well as referring to the actual physical environment of the worker, are able to construct a kind of virtual picture of an employee's working conditions in a mainframe server hosted by the company delivering the training. The risk assessment training module, once completed, is analysed by that company's own computers, which will flag any areas of concern for attention by the client. A report is delivered to the client with areas of attention clearly marked in it: and a length of time in which to comply.

Sounds good - but can a computer really carry out a successful assessment? In most cases, yes. The training software is pretty smart - it is able to identify almost all grey areas by analysing the responses trainees have given to the questions it has posed. The questions run by the risk assessment training software have been specifically architected to make grey areas obvious to the machine running the collation of the data: if answers do not match a cleverly defined set of criteria, they will be sent up for attention by a human operator, who will contact the client directly and attempt to sort out the discrepancy. If, after human contact is made, the answers are still unclear, a human operative will undertake that part of the risk assessment manually.

In all cases, even up to this worst case scenario of someone having to come in and do a bit of the risk assessment training in a manual fashion, most of the work involved is outsourced to computers at the host company. The managers and owners of the company doing the risk assessment, then, need only lose their staff for an hour or so each. Good news for all those who want to comply.

Privacy Policy? Who Needs a Privacy Policy?

By Erick Hagstrom
I need a privacy policy. You need a privacy policy. Everyone who does business online needs a privacy policy. But why?

Your Responsibility

The simplest answer is that you need to be responsible with the information entrusted to you by your readers (or members or followers or whatever you call them). No matter where you are located, or where your readers are located, you have a responsibility to protect any information that you collect. You have a responsibility to use that information only for the purpose intended by the person who gave it to you. And you can be sued or worse if you fail to satisfy your responsibilities. The specific rules vary from place to place, and that makes things difficult. But in most cases you can limit your exposure to trouble by stating clearly up front what kinds of information you intend to collect, what you intend to do with it, and how you intend to protect it.

Your Protection

A privacy policy can help keep you out of serious trouble. If you collect names and email addresses, for example, any of those people could end up suing you if you use their information for a purpose that they didn't expect when they gave you the information (like sending them an email!). If you have a privacy policy in place you can use it for your defense. "Your honor, my published privacy policy clearly states that I can and will do the following things with information I collect: 1)...." If you don't have a privacy policy your defense is reduced to, "But your honor, I thought they would understand that I would email them if they gave me their email address. That's reasonable, isn't it?" It may seem reasonable, but the winner in a lawsuit isn't always the one that's reasonable. Don't risk it. Put the policy in place. You'll sleep better.

Legal Requirements

There are some situations where a privacy policy is required by law. If, for example, your site is intended for the use of children, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act places some specific requirements on you. If you are operating in the financial or healthcare realms there are specific laws that apply to you. Some US states have strict laws governing your activities. And you don't even have to live there to be subject to those laws. You open yourself to those jurisdictions as soon as a resident of one of those states visits your site and you collect information on them. Unless, of course, you specifically address those situations in your published privacy policy.

Trading Partner Requirements

Do you use Google AdSense ads on your site? In they require you to have a published privacy policy, and they want you to address certain specific topics in it. Other companies with whom you do business may have their own similar requirements. Do your homework to be sure you are complying with your obligations or you may soon find yourself out of business.

Where Do I Get One?

One option is to go to a knowledgeable lawyer. It's their business to help keep you out of trouble. But they can be a bit pricey.

Another option is to purchase a guide to internet legal compliance. Such guides are available online and are generally quite good. They won't provide you tailored legal advice and may not exactly address your particular situation, but it's far better to get a 98 percent solution to the problem than to expose yourself to every possible privacy problem that any lawyer can dream up.

There are also some free resources available online. Offerings change frequently, so if you want to find out about free privacy policy options you should do your own search.

Don't Wait. Act Now.

If you don't have a good published privacy policy in place on your website you are running a huge risk. Take action now to protect yourself. Get yourself protect. Now.

Ignoring Food Safety Legislation Can Lead To Harsh Penalties

Ignoring Food Safety Legislation Can Lead To Harsh Penalties
By Dave Summers
The UK food safety legislation is composed of several parts.

The main piece of legislation is, or rather was, the Food Safety Act 1990. I say was as further legislation introduced during 2004 and subsequently 2006 have since superseded the main act. The Act, however, is still classed as the principle of legislation. It was agreed by the British Government and accepted as law. As with all Acts, they tend to be complicated, skeletal, difficult to understand and is a framework on which other items of legislation build on. These other items of legislation include EU directives, where a member state, Brussels, issues regulations to put into place certain requirements. EU regulations apply to all members of the European Community directly. Finally, UK regulations are composed by ministers and civil servants and passed into UK law. It is the regulations which "spell out" the Act in more detail.

The main regulations in operation concerning food safety, especially in catering, retail and manufacturing are:

-Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs.
-The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006
-The Food Labelling Regulations 1996
-The Food Labelling (Amendment) (England) (No2) Regulations 2004.

The Food Safety Act has mainly been concerned with food standards and quality since the introduction of the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations. Sections include the following:

-The provision of food that may harm health.
-The ability of enforcement officers seizing and holding food that is thought to be contaminated.
-Food not being of the nature, substance or quality expected by the consumer.
-Due Diligence defence.
-The ability to sample food.
-Enforcement officers are allowed to enter any food premises at any reasonable time without giving notice.

Details of penalties.

The penalties, if convicted in court, are: £20,000 fine and/or 6 months in prison or unlimited fine and/or 2 years in prison. The former penalty is issued in a Magistrates Court, the latter in a Crown Court.

The UK provides a legislative system whereby Food Safety is covered under criminal law. Criminal law is heard in either a magistrate's court for less serious, summary offences or in a crown court for more serious, indictable offences.

Civil law deals with compensation claims, perhaps from consumers that want to sue a food company for causing food poisoning, which resulted in lost time from work, physical harm, or psychological damage.

Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs states that all general hygiene rules are the direct responsibility or the food business owner. There must be strict controls in place to ensure that all high risk food is retained under refrigeration. There must be a food safety management system in operation using the 7 principles of HACCP.

The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 deals mainly with the enforcement of EU Hygiene Regulations such as the issue of improvement and prohibition notices by enforcement officers and the issue of orders by the courts.

The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 states that a food label must have the following information:

-Name of food.
-List of Ingredients.
-Best Before or Use By date
-Storage conditions
-Contact details of manufacturer/packer/seller.

This was amended or added to in 2004 with the Food Labelling (Amendment) (England) (No2) Regulations 2004. This covers the labelling of food to include allergens such as peanuts, fish, etc.

Further information is available to provide more detail on the regulations, such as Statutory Codes of Practice which are provided by ministers for enforcement authorities and National Guided to Good Practice, developed by food business operators.

The Implemented Laws for Telemarketing Call Centers

By Rosiel Brazil
Telemarketing is the most popular and cost-effective marketing and communication technique available. It helps your business conserve more time, money, and workforce. It is a method of direct marketing in which an agent proposes to the prospective customer to buy products or services over the phone. It is a great way to promote your products or services, that is why outbound call centers emerged and are widely used by businesses.

Outbound telemarketing is a huge business but it can be annoying to those who receive these calls multiple times a day. It has been reported that households particularly in western countries received billions of calls in a year from faceless telemarketers. They sometimes call your household at the most inopportune time, either early in the morning when you are still fast asleep, at dinner time when everybody is set at the table, or before bedtime when a mother is reading a story to her child. Is it not annoying when you rush out from the bathroom halfway done taking a bath, or get out from under the car covered with grease, just to pick up the phone and only to find out an unknown caller is trying to sell you something you do not need?

Because of the rapid growth of telemarketing call centers, several laws were passed and amended. However, these laws differ from state to state and from country to country. In the face of all the difference, each telemarketing companies have the sole responsibility to become familiar with the laws governing the industry in a specific locale. They are obliged to adhere with all the relevant laws imposed on their industry.

According to the Official Business Link to the U.S. Government, telemarketing is regulated at the federal level by two statutes: The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) derives its regulatory authority from TCPA, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for enforcing TSR. The FTC implemented the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 1994, a federal legislation in the United States, to combat telephone fraud. It helps consumers how to differentiate between fraudulent and legitimate telemarketing.

The law established the FTC's National Do-Not-Call Registry in 2003 in order to facilitate compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA). A Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry is managed by the FTC to make it easier and more efficient to prevent telemarketing calls that you do not want. It is a list of phone numbers from consumers who do not wish to be called by telemarketers, otherwise, consumers can file a complaint against the company. The telemarketing laws of the FCC also require that calls made by predictive dialers to wireless telephone numbers be prohibited. It also prohibits sending any unsolicited fax advertisements, the use of automatic dialers, or sending recorded messages.

On the other hand, telemarketing companies are also required to maintain their own internal Do-Not-Call list. If you are contacted by a company that is exempted from the national DNC registry, such as banks, federal credit unions and loans, or telephone and airline companies, you can ask them to put your number in their internal DNC list, otherwise, you can file a complaint against the company as well. You can also take advantage of this strategy even if you do not subscribe to the national DNC registry.

HK Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) - Practice Direction 31

By Jamon Yerger
Hong Kong is no stranger to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre handled 280 cases in 2004 up to 602 cases in 2008. When foreign investors in Asia have disputes, they prefer to have a neutral "third place" for them to be settled. Hong Kong has been claimed as one of the preferred places for foreign dispute settlement, due to its developed law system and geographical location.

Practice Direction 31 (from here on referenced as PD31) for mediation, which is one method of ADR, came into effect on 12 February 2010. PD31 is a practice direction that only pertains to the ADR method of mediation and encourages people to mediate before or during litigation procedures.

A detailed look at PD31

PD31's main task is to encourage people to settle their disputes by making it compulsorily to consider mediation before or during litigation. While it is not "mandatory", PD31 instructs legal representatives to inform the parties the court could issue adverse costs if they "unreasonably fail" to mediate. Unless the party has a good reason not to mediate, then they will not take on these adverse costs. Outlined by Herbert Smith LLP, we will touch on the five essential points that are particularly important when considering the new PD31 on mediation in Hong Kong.

1. Active exploration of ADR

The court has a "duty as part of active case management" to encourage other methods, such as ADR, to settle disputes. In other words, the court's duty is to help the parties to settle matters but it is also the party's responsibility to help facilitate these methods when ever possible.

2. Costs of unreasonably failing to mediate

When a party unreasonably fails to mediate, the court may include "adverse" costs to them. There is a minimum requirement one can participate to avoid the adverse cost, as well as having an acceptable reason why one can not mediate. The term "unreasonable" is not clearly defined. The best method is to go through the motions and up one mediation session. IF it does not work out, you have made you attempt. You might also resolve some issues as well.

3. Mediation procedure

Mediation certificate

The Mediation Certificate is important because it states whether the parties agree to mediate, more importantly if they do not agree to mediate, what is the explanation. The second function of this certificate is to verify if the legal representatives have explained that mediation is an option available to them, the cost of mediation compared to litigation and explaining PD31 contents.

Mediation notice

In the event one party would like to mediate, they must draft a Mediation Notice after sending the Mediation certificate. The Mediation Notice should include the party's willingness to mediate and how to suggest how to carry out the mediation.

Mediation Response

Once the notice is received, a mediation response must be sent to the court in 14 days. In the response, it should be noted whether they agree to mediate the dispute and if not, why not. The respondent also has the right to suggest ways of carrying out mediation.

Mediation Minute

Once an agreement is reached, it should be reduce into writing with the signatures from the parties or legal representatives. In the event the parties can not come to an agreement about mediation, for example choosing a mediator or location, they may look to the court for guidance to help solve those differences.

4. Stay of legal proceedings

At any time during litigation, the parties may opt for mediation in order to try to resolve their differences. Providing they do not conflict with any "milestone dates", the court will allow a short break to start mediation. Milestone dates such as, case management conferences, pre trial review and trail date, stay of legal procedures will not be granted in attempt to reduce delays in court proceedings. If the parties come to agreement during the time of mediation, they will have to inform the court and formally close the proceedings. If an agreement is not reached with in that time, the previous proceedings will continue.

5. Without prejudice communication and confidentiality

One of the advantages of mediation is confidentiality. It can be a private forum between the parties, legal parties and mediator. PD31 claims the court can not compel one of these parties to divulge information to the court for evidence.

What now?

Even though mediation was available before, people might not have had the opportunity to learn about the other alternatives available to them. PD31 dictates legal counsels are to make sure their clients are aware of the advantages and cost benefits of mediation. Whether mediation is more enjoyable than litigation is not the point to be debated, but rather, PD31 requires a second option that may yield a better out come. PD31 brings awareness to this second option of mediation; an option that has always been available.

Personal Licence Course

By Harvey McEwan
The Personal Licence Course provides the learner with a clear and comprehensive understanding of the framework of law and regulation, laid out in the Licensing Act (2003), that underpins the responsibilities of the personal licence holder.

The NCPLH and SCPLH courses, which cover England & Wales and Scotland respectively, include the roles, responsibilities and functions of licensing authorities within the framework of the licensing objectives.

The course also covers the application process for a personal licence, as well as the difference between this and the premises licence.

The learner has to understand the role and legal responsibilities of the PLH (personal licence holder) as denoted by law, and the penalties relating to any perceived failure to comply with the regulations put in place by the proper authorities.

A PLH must be fully trained in the content and purpose of operating schedules, and the role and duties of the designated premises supervisor.

They must also have full comprehension of what constitutes unauthorised and temporary licensable activities.

Any NCPLH or SCPLH training course will also cover police powers with regard to the potential suspension and closure of licensed premises, and the specific prohibitions for the sale of alcohol.

The strengths of alcoholic drinks, and the effects of alcohol on the human body are also vital training points, as is the protection of children from harm from the effects of alcohol abuse.

Road Sign Overkill Is a Distraction

By Darren Joint
According to the Wandsworth Guardian, the 250-yard stretch of the A3 trunk road near West Hill is home to a "miniature forest of signs on both sides of the double and triple carriageway".

The news provider took two "reasonably intelligent passengers" for a drive along the carriageway and asked them to count the number of signs in place.

They spotted just eight signs each - highlighting the dangers of having too many signs on the road.

However, a Ministry of Transport spokesperson said that there was a good reason for each and every sign found on the A3.

The department also claimed that there was no legal requirement for sign spacing and local authorities were only offered "recommended distance" guidance.

Meanwhile, new road signs are being erected on Paddockhurst Road in Worth to encourage motorists to reduce their speed, reports This is Sussex.

Often the cause of this kind of 'blooming' of road signs is a lack of thought when new signs are being installed. Temporary road signs are installed, changes mean new signs are required, but no one reviews the need for existing signs and none are removed.

Over time drivers can't see the wood for the trees because no one is pruning!

Sometimes this lack of thought is because different bodies are responsible for different signage, but where clear authority exists, for example with a council, a review of ALL signage should be undertaken before new signs are installed to ensure that the overall "signscape" is still appropriate.

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

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