Becker's Hospital Review

89 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY California's new rules for workplace violence prevention in hospitals take effect: 4 things to know By Kelly Gooch C alifornia's workplace violence prevention rules, which are designed to improve safety at healthcare facilities across the state, went into effect in 2017 and were followed in 2018 by proposed federal legislation. Here are four things to know about the rules. 1. Development of the rules dates back to February 2014. At that time, two healthcare worker unions called for the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/OSHA, to develop and adopt new rules to protect healthcare workers against workplace violence, according to the California Department of Industrial Relations. A de- partment spokesperson told Becker's Hospital Review via email Cal/OSHA considered the request and developed draft rules that ultimately became section 3342 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations enforced by Cal/OSHA. 2. The Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care stan- dard applies to general acute care hospitals, acute psychi- atric hospitals, special hospitals and various other health- care facilities. 3. The rules require covered healthcare facilities to estab- lish a workplace violence prevention plan "that includes obtaining help from facility security or law enforcement agencies as appropriate." The DIR spokesperson said it also requires these facilities to document information in a vio- lent incident log and provide workplace violence preven- tion training to employees. Additionally, certain licensed hospitals must report violent incidents to Cal/OSHA. 4. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Unit- ed said via news release the rules have served as the mod- el for proposed federal legislation called the Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act. U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced the federal bill March 8. According to union officials, the Health Care Workplace Violence Preven- tion Act would require the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to "develop a national standard on workplace violence prevention that would require health- care facilities to develop and implement comprehensive facil- ity and unit-specific workplace violence prevention plans." n Why America's physician shortage could top 120k by 2030: 5 things to know By Kelly Gooch T he U.S. could face a shortage of more than 121,000 physicians by 2030, ac- cording to updated data from the As- sociation of American Medical Colleges. e estimate is higher than AAMC's 2030 projec- tions published last year. "is year's analysis reinforces the serious threat posed by a real and significant doctor shortage," AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, MD, said in a statement. "With the additional demand from a population that will not only continue to grow but also age considerably over the next 12 years, we must start training more doctors now to meet the needs of our patients in the future." Here are five key findings from the 2018 report. 1. The 2018 report projects a short- age of 42,600 to 121,300 physicians by 2030. is compares to the 2017 report, which projected a 2030 shortage of 40,800 to 104,900 physicians. is year's projections take into account recently revised federal Health Profession Shortage Area designa- tions for primary care and mental health, the AAMC said. 2. The U.S. faces a potential shortage of 14,800 to 49,300 primary care physicians by 2030. is is higher than the projected shortfall in the 2017 report — a shortage of 7,300 to 43,100 primary care phy- sicians by 2030. AAMC said differences in estimations regarding the projected growth in the supply of physician assistants and ad- vanced practice registered nurses contributed to the higher numbers in the 2018 report, as did PCP supply and demand trends, among other factors. 3. The U.S. faces a potential short- age of 33,800 to 72,700 physicians in non-primary care specialties. is includes a potential shortfall of 20,700 to 30,500 physicians in 2030 for surgical spe- cialties. AAMC attributed the projections to an aging population requiring more complex care as well as a stagnant supply of surgical specialists and other factors. 4. AAMC cites population growth and aging as the primary drivers of the projected physician shortage from 2016 to 2030. e AAMC analy- sis accounted for projections suggesting the U.S. population will grow nearly 11 percent by 2030, with the population of Americans older than 65 increasing by 50 percent. e organization also accounted for the potential influence of physician retirement in its pro- jections. More than one-third of all currently active physicians will be older than 65 in the next 10 years. 5. Improved access to care would in- crease the need for physicians. e AAMC estimates suggest the nation would have needed 31,600 more physicians in 2016 if people living in non-metropolitan areas and the uninsured used care the same way as those with coverage in metropolitan areas. n

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