issue 06-09
issue 06-09
September, 2006
Inside this issue...
New Health Disaster Response Division Manager announced
- Page 1
Preparing for public health emergencies
- Page 1
October Health Observances -
Page 1
New information security practices
- Page 2
Managers & supervisors
mileage tips - Page 2
Breastfeeding Awareness Month celebrated
- Page 3
Spotlight on Excellence - Page 4
Native women gather to discuss health issues
- Page 4
Sept. is Latino Health Awareness month
- Page 4
HCA welcomes Terre Duensing to the position of Division Manager of Health Disaster Response. Terre will lead this newly formed division that will be comprised of the major agency disaster planning and response functions including bioterrorism, pandemic flu and disaster response. This division will also include the Emergency Medical Services program.
Terre has 21 years of experience in county government, beginning with HCA's Animal Care Services program and then rising through the ranks of the Sheriff's Department to her current role of leading the County Emergency Management Division of the Sheriff's Department. She has extensive background in emergency management and has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Science from California Polytechnic University in Pomona.
Terre will begin her new position on September 29, 2006.
Preparing for public health emergencies
On November 3, 2006 HCA will join with the Children and Families Commission, California State University Fullerton, Coast Community College District, the City of Huntington Beach and Saddleback Community Church to conduct a full-scale exercise to test local preparedness for mass distribution of vaccine in the event of a county-wide health emergency.
The exercise will take place simultaneously at three sites in Orange County and provide HCA and community partners an opportunity to test Unified Command, emergency clinic set-up, and vaccine distribution. Each of the three sites will offer 2,500 free seasonal influenza vaccinations to all participants. Golden West College in Huntington Beach and Saddleback Church will conduct walk-in clinics, and Cal. State University Fullerton will conduct a drive-through clinic.
You are encouraged to participate in the exercises and get your annual flu shot.
If you are interested in further information on preparedness for pandemic influenza, visit www.pandemicflu.gov.
Children's Health Month
Healthy Lung Month
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Dental Hygiene Month
National Physical Therapy Month
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month
National Depression Screening Day 5
Stop America's Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Today -11
National Latino AIDS Awareness Day -15
National Health Education Week 16-20
National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 22-28
What's UP is a newsletter for employees
of the County of Orange, CA, Health Care Agency.
Editors
Tricia Landquist
Howard Sutter
Anne Fialcowitz
Your Input
Phone (714) 834-6644
E-mail tlandquist@ochca.com
FAX (714) 834-7644
Pony Bldg. 38-S, 4th Floor
The Health Care Agency rolled out new Information Security practices, policies and procedures over the last several months. HIPAA ushered in some of these changes, but Information Security is broader than HIPAA. The current Information Security practices are consistent with "best practices" and help HCA to prepare for emerging risks in technology.
The next step in HCA's Information Security Program is assessing the success of the new security policies and procedures. That is exactly what HCA Information Security is doing. Since June, Information Security teams with support from IT technicians and Office of Compliance staff have assessed nearly 90 HCA programs throughout the County. This is about half the planned site visits.
The Assessment includes a hands-on review of PCs and laptops, interviews with staff, and a walk-through observation of workstations. Thus far, the most common findings include:
On the positive side the assessments noted …
· High frequency of user recognition of a Security Incident and how and what to report to IT Helpdesk in the event of an incident.
· Good user knowledge of how to reduce risk to the HCA Network by using strong passwords and recognizing and deleting potential viruses in email.
· Thin clients are becoming more popular with HCA programs. Thin clients are the most economical and efficient method of securing the HCA Network.
Of concern …
· Unauthorized software on various HCA PCs was found, which included active desktop screen savers, spyware, and web conferencing software.
· Sensitive information such as personnel evaluations and mileage claim forms containing names and social security numbers stored on hard drives are vulnerable to unauthorized access.
. . . continued on page 3
The HCA Compliance Program offers a confidential telephone hotline to voice your concerns about any situation that may conflict with Compliance Program principles. You may call the hotline 24 hours a day at: (866) 260-5636
Before you approve that stack of Mileage and Other Expense Claim forms on your desk here are some important things to check.
Month being Claimed
Is the claim within the 12-month claiming period? Claim items over one year old will not be paid.
Has more than one claim been filed for the same month? Only one claim may be submitted for each month per County travel policy.
Social Security Number
Is it complete? The whole 9 digit number must be entered. The employee will not be paid without it!
Pay Location
Is it entered? The pay location always begins with 042 followed by three more digits.
Cash Advance
Is the appropriate box checked? Yes or No must be selected.
Org & Job Number
Is there a valid org and job number for each item being claimed in the Summary section? Each item being claimed must have a valid org and job number.
Representation Unit
Has the employee selected the correct Representation unit? Representation Units affect the amount of reimbursement.
Legible
Is the form legible? Can the job numbers and amounts be clearly read? These forms are keypunched by an outside vendor and must be clear.
. . . continued on page 3
Agency Director Julie Poulson welcomed Dr. Eric Handler, HCA Deputy Agency Director of Public Health Services at a reception held on August 30th at the Old Orange County Courthouse.
Every year, World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) August 1-7, is celebrated
in more than 120 countries. To commemorate the event, Women, Infant and
Children's (WIC) Agencies throughout California continue to celebrate
during the whole month and designate each August as Breastfeeding Awareness
Month (BAM).
This year's theme "The Code: 25 Years of Protecting Breastfeeding," focused on the importance of breastfeeding for the health of both mothers and infants, as well as breastfeeding for the first six months of life to prevent early childhood obesity, a growing health concern in Orange County and throughout the nation.
HCA's Nutrition Services/WIC Program kicked off WBW/BAM with a half-day celebration featuring two outstanding presentations by prominent breastfeeding specialists. One of these highlighted HCA WIC's new State-funded Peer Counselor program, a two-year grant intended to help WIC moms more successfully breastfeed through mother-to-mother education and support provided by specially-trained WIC Peer Counseling staff.
Throughout the month, HCA WIC clinics featured breastfeeding promotion activities including bulletin board displays and a special class of the month that encouraged WIC participants to think about how WIC and they as individuals can help promote breastfeeding within our local communities. Many clinics also created a special mother/baby photo display of participants who are exclusively breastfeeding their babies.
Breastfeeding specialists from WIC, HCA Community Nursing, and the Orange County Breastfeeding Coalition also presented more than 20 Orange County obstetric, pediatric, and family medicine physicians and clinics with a "Protecting Breastfeeding" kit. Kits were distributed to libraries within the Orange County Public Library system.
Both the physician and library kits featured Nutrition Services' newly revised 2006 Breastfeeding Resources List, an up to date reference for the public on available English and Spanish language breastfeeding books for adults and children, and reliable English and Spanish websites for breastfeeding information. This reference will soon be available on the breastfeeding section of the Nutrition Services website.
For information about breastfeeding or HCA's Nutrition Services/WIC Program, contact Laurence Obaid, MS RD CLE, Nutrition Services/WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator, at (714) 834-7986 or lobaid@ochca.com.
HCA Nutrition Services and HCA Community Nursing joined
together to create a display to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week and
Breastfeeding Awareness Month which was featured during the Month of August in
the County Hall of Administration lobby.
continued from page 2
Supervisor or Authorized Signer
Where do I sign? If you are both the Supervisor and an Authorized signer please sign in both places. Each form should always have an Authorized signer AND a Supervisor.
Who is an Authorized Signer? All Authorized signers must be on the approved listing from the Budget Technical Unit. Any updates or questions should be directed to that unit.
The electronic claim form and instructions are available on the HCA Intranet at http://balsam/intranet/forms.asp. While this has greatly helped speed the process of auditing Mileage and Other Expense Claim Forms, the form won't tell you if a field is left blank! Any time something is missing or incorrect on a claim, the form is either set aside for review by the Payroll Supervisor or the Manager or returned to the employee. In either case the payment is delayed. Help us get your staff reimbursed in a more timely manner by checking for these fields before you sign!
If you find this article helpful or have suggestions for future topics please send an email to HCAPAYROLL@ochca.com.
continued from page 2
· Confidential information including some Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) continues to be found on some hard drives, especially in older files. Prior to implementing the HIPAA Security Rule, it was common practice to store ePHI on the hard drive and the older computers are more likely to contain ePHI.
What to do now …
Assessment findings and associated recommendations are discussed with each site manager/supervisor at the end of the visit. Prior to the assessment, you can examine your own computer and remove any confidential or sensitive information from the hard drive, and familiarize yourself with the new security policies and procedures. These P&Ps can be found on the Agency Administrative P&Ps website at: http://balsam/intranet/P&P/default5-7.asp . Supervisors and managers are expected to address any issues and implement the new security policies and procedures with staff. All technical questions or concerns should be called into the IT Helpdesk at (714) 834-3128.
"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. "
—Robert F. Kennedy
Behavioral Health's Cultural Competency Program presented its August 2006 Spotlight on Excellence Award to Jenny Qian, Administrative Manager II for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services (ADAS).
Jenny is noted for being intuitively responsive to the cultural needs of the County's diverse clients that ADAS serves. She also chairs a committee to enhance the accessibility of services to special groups.
Jenny began her career with HCA 15 years ago as an ADAS
Program Evaluation Specialist. She received her MA
degree in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and is originally
from Beijing, China.
Native women gather to discuss health issues
"It's time to become visible." This was the common driving force shared by seven Indian women who gathered at the inaugural meeting for the Native Women's Health Council, hosted and facilitated by the Orange County Cancer Detection Partnership. On August 29th , these dedicated women, who represented the Acjachemen Nation (Juaneño Band of Mission Indians), the Alianza Indígena (Indigenous People's Alliance), and the American Indian Healing Center, discussed health issues and disparities for native women in Orange County.
According to the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), "more than one third of uninsured American Indian/Alaska Natives do not have a usual source of care," which is critical to receiving preventive health services and treatment when ill. One of the first challenges that the Council will tackle is identifying available culturally competent health resources for Indian women. Culturally competent providers will understand the unique values, cultural traditions and attitudes, communication style, spirituality, and historical basis for changes in lifestyle and health practices of American Indian women and thus, deliver more appropriate healthcare. Secondly, the Council will educate native women about these services and work to increase their access to them.
The Cancer Detection Partnership is privileged to be a part of this groundbreaking movement to address the health needs of native women in Orange County. On May 6, the Partnership presented its first breast cancer education class tailored to Native American women in collaboration with Alianza Indígena. The Partnership hopes to help educate more Indian women about breast cancer and the free breast and cervical cancer screening services offered through the state-funded Every Woman Counts Program. Women living in California can call (800) 511-2300 to see if they qualify for these early detection services.
Among California Latinos, heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes account for 54 percent of all deaths. Research also shows that less than a third of California Latino adults engage in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five or more days a week and more than one-third of Latinos eat two or fewer daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
The California Latino 5 a Day Campaign, which is part of the California Nutrition Network for Healthy, Active Families, is a public health initiative led by the California Department of Health Services. In addition to encouraging physical activity and eating the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables daily, the campaign also works with communities throughout California to create environments where these behaviors are socially supported and easy to do.
For more information, visit the California 5 a Day website at www.ca5aday.com. To learn more about servings and portion sizes, visit the United States Department of Agriculture site at www.mypyramid.gov. Visitors can create a MyPyramid Plan for a quick estimate on what and how much they need to eat based on age, sex and activity level.
Pictured (back row, left to right) are Natalee Coot, Emma Ilori,
Lorena Ortega and Jacquie Garza. Pictured (front row, left to right)
Patricia Powers, Jacelynn Juarez and Lupe Lopez.
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