Issue 09-08
August 2009
Inside this issue …
TUPP recognizes youth artist winner
HCA’s Tobacco Use Prevention Program (TUPP) recently recognized Jocelyn Romero, youth artist of a winning cartoon poster for the program’s “Tobacco and Hollywood Project.” Youth from the Boys and Girls Club of Garden Grove participated in this project during May 2009. TUPP Program Supervisor Barbara Brashear presented Jocelyn with an award to recognize her for a job well-done.
The “Tobacco and Hollywood Project” provides youth participants with an educational awareness presentation about the influence of tobacco in movies and the impact it has on youth. The participants have the opportunity to create cartoons that help counter the presence of tobacco in movies and films. More than 100 cartoons produced by youth throughout Orange County were received and judged by community members, health professionals and youth. Jocelyn is one of the Top 8 Winners. Other winners include students from Buena Park High School, La Vista High School, Loara High School, and San Clemente High School. Congratulations to all youth who participated.
Pictured (left to right) are Jow Marroquin, Youth Coordinator; Jocelyn Romero, Youth Artist; Mikayla Curtis, Director of High School Assets Program; and Barbara Brashear, TUPP Program Supervisor.
August marks the end of summer heat, but that doesn’t mean the end of summer’s delicious produce! This month’s fruit and vegetable, plums and bell peppers are two great choices for keeping your vitamin C levels up. Get outside and enjoy these healthy and tasty treats.
The CA Department of Public Health Worksite Program offers the following quick and simple tips for the month of August:
Drink Water
Replace sugary drinks with water. Your body needs 8 to 10 glasses of water per day to stay hydrated. Too often we forget about drinking water, so grab a water bottle and drink at work, in the car, or while relaxing. Sugary drinks are nice treats, but water is the healthiest drink of choice. Water can also make you feel fuller while enjoying lunch or dinner. Your body will feel refreshed and you will feel healthier and happier.
Exercise and Relax
Summer months offer nice weather for outdoor activities, but be careful in the heat. The morning and evening are great times to head outside because the temperatures are coolest. If you must exercise in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day, then try to find shade. Before going outside, make sure you drink enough water. If you feel light headed, take a break inside and rehydrate before continuing. The summer has great weather, but use caution and listen to your body.
Health and Nutrition Go Hand-in-Hand
Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and getting daily physical activity can help your family stay healthy and may prevent serious health problems like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer. One plum is a good source of vitamin C, which helps your body heal cuts and wounds and maintain healthy gums. One medium bell pepper is also a good source of vitamin C, as well as vitamin B6 which helps your body build healthy blood cells. The amount of fruits and vegetables you need depends on your age, gender, and the amount of physical activity you get every day. Eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables with meals and snacks throughout the day to reach your total daily needs.
Monthly Fit Business Tips are created by the CA Department of Public Health and feature a fruit and vegetable of the month and simple tips for healthy eating and physical activity. Each monthly tip also includes several ways to incorporate the featured produce into your daily meals. To view past monthly Fit Business Tips, visit www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/cpns/Pages/FitBusinessTips.aspx.
Self-Assessment Tool could prevent HIPAA audit
As part of HCA’s Compliance Work Plan, the 2009 Bi-Annual HIPAA Self-Assessment Tool was launched in May 2009. The 2009 Assessment Tool was distributed to all 162 clinics and administrative sites that are covered by HIPAA. The purpose of this review is to determine HCA’s overall compliance with HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules and to identify opportunities for improvement throughout the Agency
The 2009 Assessment Tool is designed to review areas that are at highest risk for an external HIPAA audit. The Department of Health and Human Services may conduct site visits, reviews of HIPAA P&Ps and interview staff regarding our HIPAA training and policies. It is also an opportunity to identify the changes to all the programs – names, addresses, locations, closures, functions, etc.
The tool is a four part assessment which includes:
A site/observation review – The program supervisor or service chief conducts a physical walkthrough of the program/site while answering a series of questions.
Knowledge of HIPAA Policies &Procedures and forms – HIPAA covered workforce members must have knowledge of the HIPAA P&Ps and forms.
Medical file/chart review – For programs with medical file/charts, five random charts are reviewed for appropriate HIPAA forms and completion of these forms.
Findings/Mitigation Plan – Programs will complete a corrective action/mitigation plan for any assessment findings.
What’s next?
All the data will be entered to get a statistical report on each of the program areas – Administration, Behavioral Health Services, Public Health Services, and Medical & Institutional Health Services’ strengths and weaknesses. A report will be presented to the Executive Team. Next year, an unannounced audit will be conducted by the Office of Compliance on selected programs based on risk analysis.
Visit our HIPAA Website: www.ocgov.com/hipaa/ or http://ocintranet.ocgov.com/hipaa/
Join us at our next OC HIPAA Workgroup
Call Linda Le, HCA HIPAA Coordinator, at (714) 834-4082 or e-mail at lile@ochca.com
Health Promotion hosts first deaf training for providers
On June 24, Health Educator Laura Buscemi-Beebe from HCA’s Health Promotion Division presented a new training Public Health, the Deaf and You to 62 HCA providers.
As one of the first ever deaf community awareness trainings, the program provided an overview of deaf culture (the basics and Dos and Don’ts); education on cultural competence (the ability to work effectively with deaf and hard of hearing individuals, i.e., materials development, arranging for interpreters); cultural sensitivity (awareness of the factors that affect interactions with deaf clients) and even some lessons in sign language.
Participants also had the opportunity to meet Belinda McCleese, MFTI, the new Deaf Services Coordinator for Behavioral Health’s Cultural Competency Program and a deaf individual. Belinda provides trainings, referrals and consultation to support the goals of increasing effective communication in the mental health system and increasing awareness of mental illness in the deaf community.
Some myths and misperceptions addressed during the training included the following:
Deaf people are not mute. Deafness does not preclude vocal capacity, only the ability to hear oneself talk and thus, to develop speech. Use of voice is a personal choice based on comfort and training.
The Deaf do not see themselves as handicapped, impaired or disabled or having lost something. Thus, using the term “deaf” is preferred to “hearing impaired.”
More than 70% of deaf people consider American Sign Language (ASL) as their first language and English their second (Friess, 1998). Many deaf people then, although intelligent, do not have good command of written English making materials presented in English often inaccessible to the deaf.
Research indicates that the average prelingually deaf (deafened before the acquisition of spoken language) person reads at 4th grade level (Woodroffe, Meador, Gorenflo, & Zazove, 1998) and health education information is generally presented via print ads, brochures and television (if captioned) in English at an educational level equivalent to the 10th-13th grades.
Did you know?
American Sign Language (ASL) is not just English in the hands; ASL is its own distinct language.
Most deaf do not read lips.
No facial expression in sign language is like monotone speech.
A capitalized ‘Deaf’ indicates membership in the deaf community (deafness is sufficient but not necessary).
Health Educator Laura Buscemi-Beebe holds an Associate Degree in American Sign Language Interpreting and came to HCA Public Health after a 10-year career as a sign language interpreter. Her experience in working with the deaf community and graduate studies research illuminated a simple reality: that the deaf and hard of hearing are not receiving equal exposure to fundamental health messages as compared to their hearing counterparts and experience a heightened burden of risk and disease as a consequence.
In her role at HCA, Laura developed this training to first, offer explanations for the causes of this disparity, and second, to encourage other programs within the HCA to reach out to this population.
Public Health, the Deaf, and You demystified the community of the deaf, and was fun, informative and interactive. If you haven’t yet, add deaf serving agencies to your databases so that they can receive your announcements for events! For more information about the training, please contact Laura Buscemi-Beebe via e-mail at lbuscemi@ochca.
Davis serves as chair for CCS Executive Committee
Congratulations to Mary Davis, RN, BS, Division Manager for HCA’s California Children’s Services (CCS) Program on being selected to serve as Chair of the statewide CCS Executive Committee, which began on July 1, 2009.
The CCS Executive Committee membership includes 18 regional representatives for 58 County CCS programs throughout the State, and works closely with the Department of Health Care Service and Children’s Medical Services Branch to strengthen the state and county partnership in the provision of high quality comprehensive medical care and case management to children who are eligible for CCS.
The Committee meets quarterly in Sacramento and as needed throughout the year. Activities include review and advisement on financial and policy matters, monitoring and responding to legislation affecting the program, recommendation of program changes and collaboration with Branch staff on issues affecting CCS. CCS is a statewide program that provides medical case management for children with special health care needs and medically necessary physical and occupational therapy through the Medical Therapy Program. The program provides services to more than 174,000 children from birth to 21 years with qualifying medical conditions. The goals of the CCS program are to promote a child’s optimum health potential, increase the level of functional independence and improve the quality of life for the child and their family. For more information, visit the CCS webpage at http://ochealthinfo.com/public/ccs/.
Did you know that all records held by the Health Care Agency are legal documents? That includes all medical records which are private and confidential, of course. In addition, all the program information you have on paper or on your computer and the e-mails you send and receive every day are public records and could be requested by the public!
Stay tuned for more information on how you can be a smart record keeper during your busy day. More updates and record management tips will be in upcoming issues of the HCA “What’s Up” newsletter. If your program has a special question about your records, e-mail Custodian of Records staff Sue Warnke at swarnke@ochca.com or Mary Maicki at mmaicki@ochca.com.
Mileage claims and authorized signatures
In addition to a supervisor, a mileage claim must also be signed by an authorized signer within the employee’s UNIT code (formerly, ORG). Who is authorized to sign? Each UNIT normally has a couple of authorized signers, usually the unit manager or the division head. However, signers vary from UNIT to UNIT and may change from time to time.
The HCA Budget/Technical Unit (BTU) is responsible for maintaining the list of authorized signers. Any request to change or add a signer must be sent to your program support staff in the BTU. Once approved, BTU will send Payroll an updated list. This process takes approximately one to two weeks.
If you are unsure who is an authorized signer, please contact HCA Payroll. Frequently, a new signature is in the process of being added to the existing authorized signature list. If a supervisor already submitted a claim with the new signature, Payroll may not yet be aware of it. The supervisor may want to contact HCA Payroll to see if the claim can be held until the new signature takes effect. Otherwise, the claim may be returned to the employee, which may delay reimbursement. I
n addition, the UNIT and JOB numbers used on a claim should be consistent with when the event being claimed took place. Accordingly, the authorized signer for that particular UNIT should be used.
For authorized signature questions, or any payroll-related questions, please call HCA Payroll at (714) 834-5744, or e-mail your questions to HCAPayroll@ochca.com.
Change in payroll retirement deduction
Your payroll retirement deduction has changed effective July 1, 2009. Your July 24, 2009 paycheck should have reflected this change. To inquire about the change, you may visit the Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) website at www.OCERS.org to view an updated list of employee retirement contribution rates posted as of July 24, or call the HCA representative at OCERS at (714) 569-4827 for more information. As a reminder, Payroll cannot provide any retirement related information as these deduction amounts are strictly negotiated by OCERS.
HCA’s Health Promotion Division joined in the festivities at the 2009 OC Super Fair “Think Big” and hosted an informational booth for fairgoers. Visitors were able to learn more about the Agency and receive information about HCA’s services and programs. Pictured is a newly redesigned display used by Health Promotion which showcased some of the services the Agency provides to the community.
Effective immediately, Behavioral Health Services (BHS) Policies and Procedures (P&Ps) will be available online only. To access the P&Ps, visit the following Health Care Agency Intranet link at http://intranet.ochca.com/bhs/pap. A few of the P&Ps have had minor revisions since the last distribution. A summary of these changes was recently circulated through BHS program managers. Look for a second distribution to be circulated soon.
The old hard copy burgundy notebooks have now become historical references only. For any questions, please contact Quality Improvement & Program Compliance (QIPC) Division Manager David Horner at (714) 834-2439.
DSRs work to keep you & your workplace injury free
As many of you are aware, safety is a top priority at HCA. This is why the HCA Safety Program was es
tablished some years ago. The main goals of the HCA Safety Program are to increase safety awareness, comply with applicable regulations, and minimize work related injuries. At this time the HCA Safety program consists of three dedicated individuals that work hard to ensure these goals are accomplished throughout the year. Now, you may be asking, how do three people take care of the needs of such a large Agency? The answer is … with the dedication and support of all the Departmental Safety Representatives (DSRs) at HCA. If you are still wondering what a DSR is, the following will give you a better understanding of their responsibilities and how they work within the HCA Safety Program to accomplish our safety goals.
What is a DSR?
DSR stands for Departmental Safety Representative. DSRs are designated by HCA program managers to serve as coordinators for their program and are responsible for implementation of workplace safety objectives within their program.
What does the DSR do for the Safety Program?
The DSR is essentially the front line for the HCA Safety Program. They assist program level staff with basic safety needs and answer questions that may arise during the work day. The DSR also provides further assistance to the Safety Program by performing the following duties throughout the year:
Inspection of individual program worksites annually, quarterly, and as needed, to identify safety hazards
Completion of corrective actions in response to hazards identified upon inspection
Coordination of safety meetings and trainings within their individual programs
Maintenance of safety related records at their program worksite (The Red Safety Binder)
Ensuring there is consistent open communication and that safety related matters are reported to the HCA Safety Program
As you can see, DSRs are instrumental in maintaining an injury free worksite and keeping program staff in compliance with Cal/OSHA standards and regulations.
Who is my Program DSR?
Each program has at least one dedicated individual who is responsible for carrying out safety responsibilities. Please check with your Manager/ Supervisor, or the HCA Safety Program to identify your designated program DSR. Ask your DSR how you can assist in maintaining your workplace safe and injury free.
Lastly, the HCA Safety Program has been successful due to the outstanding contributions of our DSRs. There are over one hundred designated DSRs that work hard to keep all of us here at HCA safe and in compliance with Cal/OSHA standards. For more information regarding the HCA Safety Program, or to volunteer as a DSR, please contact the HCA Safety Program at (714) 834-4359 .
Employees recognized for service years
HCA employees received recognition for their years of dedicated service at an Employee Recognition Awards ceremony held on July 23 at the County Hall of Administration. The 2009 Labor Management Committee (LMC) Steve Ambriz Team Excellence Award winners were also announced. The following is a list of service awards presented:
8 Years of Service—10
10 Years of Service—52
15 Years of Service—29
20 Years of Service—17
25 Years of Service—5
30 Years of Service—3
35 Years of Service—3
40 Years of Service—1
35 Years
Charlyn Barton from Public Health Services received a 35-year certificate and pin to recognize her dedicated service to the County from Public Health Services Deputy Agency Director David Souleles and Agency Director Dave Riley.
Celebrating 35 years of service to the County, Paul Hannah received a certificate and pin to commemorate the occasion during the Employee Recognition ceremony from Public Health Services Deputy Agency Director David Souleles and Agency Director Dave Riley.
25 Years
Carmen Ybarra and Caroline Cordova from Public Health Services celebrated 25 years of service to the County and received recognition from Public Health Services Deputy Agency Director David Souleles and Agency Director Dave Riley.
20 Years
Behavioral Health Services staff members who celebrated 20 years with the County received recognition from Agency Director Dave Riley and Adult Mental Health Services Division Manager Annette Mugrditchian. Pictured (left to right) include Jack Wasserman, Janice Davis and Victor Cota.
Public Health Services Deputy Agency Director David Souleles and Agency Director Dave Riley congratulated Public Health Services employees who celebrated 20 years of service to the County. Pictured (left to right) are Anthony Martinez, Luis Lodrigueza, Eleanor Forrest, Anthony Britton, Pearl Boelter and Alice Apodaca.
Celebrating 20 years of dedicated service to the County, Gina VanQuest received a certificate and pin from Agency Director Dave Riley and Financial and Administrative Services Deputy Agency Director Bob Wilson during the July 23 Awards ceremony.
15 Years
Agency Director Dave Riley and Adult Mental Health Services Division Manager Annette Mugrditchian presented Behavioral Health staff celebrating 15 years of service to the County with certificates and pins to commemorate the occasion. Pictured (left to right) are Jane Camacho, Jacqueline Williams and Suzanne Stein.
Celebrating 15 years of County service, Public Health Services employees pictured (left to right) Maria Tomas, Guillermina Olivares, Alan Reynolds, Be Nguyen, Alice Armstrong-Sadjadi and Susan Agulera received a certificate and pin from Public Health Services Deputy Agency Director David Souleles and Agency Director Dave Riley.
Medical and Institutional Health staff who celebrated 15 years of service to the County received a certificate and pin to commemorate the occasion from Institutional Health Services Division Manager Terre Duensing and Agency Director Dave Riley. Pictured (left to right) are Lorraine Olson and Stacey Northcutt.
10 Years
Celebrating 10 years of County service, Public Health Services employees pictured (left to right) Lisa Specht, Myrna Ricarte, Martha Pacheco Deconcepcion, Maria Aparicio, John Banoczi, Lucia Salinas and Glenda Papa, received recognition from Public Health Services Deputy Agency Director David Soules and Agency Director Dave Riley.
Behavioral Health Services staff members celebrating 10 years of service to the County received recognition from Agency Director Dave Riley and Adult Mental Health Services Division Manager Annette Mugrditchian during the July 23 Awards ceremony. Pictured (left to right) are Silvana Boroukhim, Nicole Ramirez, Keunho Keefe, James Earnest, Jessee Newman and Farah Zaidi.
Agency Director Dave Riley and Financial and Administrative Services Deputy Agency Director Bob Wilson presented Geraldine Heard, Sue Warnke, Sakina Shah, Patrick Breslin and Jose Quintanilla with a 10-year certificate and pin to recognize their 10 years of service to the County.
5 Years
Public Health Services employees pictured (left to right) Howard Mayo, Kira Durham and Alexandra Vecchio celebrated 5 years of service to the County and received a certificate and pin from Public Health Services Deputy Agency Director David Souleles and Agency Director Dave Riley.
Medical and Institutional Health Services employee Bobby Kendrick celebrated 5 years of service to the County and received recognition from Institutional Health Services Division Manager Terre Duensing and Agency Director Dave Riley.
Special Recognition
Selected as the 2009 Labor Management Committee (LMC) Steve Ambriz Team Excellence Award Winners, the Behavioral Health Anaheim Adult Mental Health Services Clinic staff received recognition from Susan Berg and Annette Mugrditchian during the July 23 HCA Employee Recognition ceremony. The team listed (alphabetically) includes Ken Alma, Robert Cormier, Lisa Chau, Kevin Flynn. Kelly Higdon, Patricia Hikida, Lori Horwitz, Marco Ibarra, Sherie King, Liz Lopez, Mauricio Mairena, Diane Martin, Tony Medina, Tracy Rick, Sandy Rosen, Rodrigo Sigala, Gerald Rogers, Bruce Scott and Linda Tran.
Childhood Cancer Month
Fruit and Veggies – More Matters™ Month
Healthy Aging® Month
National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
National Preparedness Month
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
National Celiac Disease Awareness Day—13
World Alzheimer’s Day—21
World Heart Day—30
Quote
You can't have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.
—Charles F. Kettering
Quote
Give a person your friendship and you will have given him more than gold.
—Sally Hess
What’s UP is a newsletter for employees of the County of
Orange, CA, Health Care Agency.
Editors
Tricia Landquist
Deanne Thompson
Anne Fialcowitz
Phone (714) 834-6644
E-mail tlandquist@ochca.com
FAX (714) 834-7644
Pony Bldg. 38-S, 4th Floor
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