Protecting Employees and Patients from Communicable Diseases

传染病对卫生保健设施构成独特的风险. Aside from your duty to your patients, 你也有重要的责任保护你的员工在工作场所的健康和安全. In order to do that, you need to prepare for a communicable disease outbreak, either amongst your staff or your local community, so that you can take measures to maintain a safe working environment.

Employee Education

某些疾病需要特殊治疗或协议，以避免从患者传染给设施中的其他人. 你的工作人员应该知道对每种传染病采取适当的预防措施, including when to report a disease, special treatment needs and extra safety or housekeeping measures. 

Communicable Disease Policy

You should be concerned not only by diseases your patients may have, but also by any disease that your workers may bring into the facility. 你应该制定传染病政策，要求员工通知他们的主管任何可能接触到传染病的情况. 这将使你能够采取积极的预防措施，防止疾病的传播. 

因为医疗信息披露受《美高美集团4688》(ADA)的约束, you must ensure that the policy meets the requirements of the ADA, 包括按照《梅高美集团4858》(HIPAA)的要求对员工健康信息保密。. As part of the policy, 员工可能会被要求减少工作时间或修改工作职责，直到他们不再具有传染性. 

Travel and Quarantine Policies

As you know, 重要的是，卫生保健工作者在适用时接种疫苗, and that applies to overseas travel as well. If employees are travelling to areas with recent communicable disease outbreaks, 他们必须接种所有推荐的疫苗并遵守所有卫生程序.

If employees travel abroad and must be quarantined upon return, 他们应该立即通知安排带薪休假或其他选择. This policy should be communicated to employees prior to travel.

Employee Leave

保持社交距离是防止传染病在工作场所传播的最佳方法之一. In your facility, 这可能意味着，对于生病的员工来说，最好的做法是呆在家里，以减少感染他人的可能性. Beyond this, 其他员工可能需要在疾病爆发期间请假照顾生病的家人. 作为回应，公司应该考虑制定政策来解决这些问题和离职问题.

Leave policies should address the following issues:

• Maintenance of all facility operations.
• 维持正常运作的员工队伍，以尽量减少员工缺勤的影响, including backup procedures for critical positions.
• Compliance with applicable laws, 包括家庭和医疗休假法(FMLA)和军警就业和再就业权利法(USERRA)。.
• Address the following logistical concerns:
  • How employees request communicable disease leave
  • Requirements for regularly reporting medical conditions
  • Whether leave is paid or unpaid
  • Whether benefits are provided or accrued during the leave period
  • 如果休假耗尽，员工是否需要返回工作岗位

Stay Within the Law

In addition to the laws mentioned above, 还有其他可能影响传染病政策及其后果的法律:

• HIPAA下的隐私规则要求雇主保护所有员工医疗信息的隐私. As a result, employers must determine what diseases employees must report, 谁将获得这些信息，是否有必要向公共卫生官员报告这些信息. 必须将工作场所可能发生的传染病病例通知其他雇员的, 必须采取一切必要的预防措施，保护受感染者的隐私.
• Under FMLA, for employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius, 在公司工作满12个月，工作满1个月的员工,因"严重健康状况"，在过去12个月内工作250小时的员工可享受最多12周的无薪休假.“大多数传染病可能会被认为适用于这一规定.
• 患有严重影响其日常生活的永久性健康问题的雇员可能有权受到《梅高美集团4858》的保护. 
• Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 雇主必须确认其健康计划下的雇员收到最新的健康福利摘要计划说明(SPD). 如果员工没有收到SPD，允许计划变更的条款可能无法强制执行. Furthermore, 如果雇主不能证明雇员和/或家属确实收到了修订后的SPD, 那么雇主可能会被要求按照以前的spd提供更高的福利. 

Creating a Communicable Disease Response Plan

制定传染病应对计划是与员工明确沟通的有效方式，同时也符合当地的要求, state and federal guidelines for pandemic responses. Plans should be concise, 易于理解和有效地保护所有员工的健康和安全. Plans should include:

• 在工作场所指定一个人负责所有疾病规划和应急行动
• Communication of the policy and required steps for requesting leave
• 制定备用方案，以便在员工缺勤时填补空缺
• 制定监测计划，跟踪因病不能立即返回工作岗位的员工
• (在可能的情况下)制定社会距离战略，以限制传播风险
• Plan distribution timeline and format (online, hard copy, etc.)

本风险洞察并非详尽无遗，任何讨论或意见也不应被视为法律建议. 读者应联系法律顾问或保险专业人士以获得适当的建议. © 2010-2011 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.