Ransomware incidents are increasing in size and number across the United States, forcing shutdowns across varied industries in recent weeks, from a meat processing plant in the Midwest to a pipeline that carries gasoline and jet fuel and serves the Southeast.  

 

The increase and severity of the attacks prompted the Biden administration on June 2 to issue an open letter to business leaders asking them to treat the threat of ransomware attacks with great urgency. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights on June 8 shared the White House alerts with specific recommendations from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to protect facilities and systems from malware attacks. 

 

CISA also warned of a “critical VMware vulnerability” and asked businesses to patch the vulnerability as soon as it is detected. VMware is cloud computing software, and the vulnerability exists in the VMware VCenter Server and VMware Cloud Foundation. 

 

Health care facilities are frequent target of malware attacks 

 

Although service disruptions at large corporations that support national infrastructure tend to make the news headlines, small businesses, including dental practices, are not immune to malware attacks. Hospitals have become a frequent target, compromising protected health information and even patient safety. Chemotherapy treatments were delayed for patients at the University of Vermont Medical Center last November after the center lost access to medical records following a ransomware attack, for example.   

CDA members are asking how the state’s reopening will apply to dental practices.

 

Here, CDA Practice Support answers members’ top questions about physical distancing, patient screening, the use of face coverings and other requirements that will continue in health care settings after June 15.

The Cal/OSHA Standards Board on June 9 voted to withdraw the revisions to its COVID-19 prevention emergency temporary standards that the board approved June 3 and sent to the Office of Administrative Law for approval. 

 

Upon the OAL’s approval, several revisions would have taken effect June 15 to coincide with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to reopen much of California’s economy.  

 

Now, with the California Department of Public Health announcing it will soon release new mask guidance, the standards board will review that new guidance, along with CDC guidance on masking, at its June 17 meeting and will likely propose new revisions to the emergency standards and submit those to the OAL for review (within 10 days). 

 

No new regulations will take effect June 15. The soonest any new regulations could take effect is the end of June. Until new emergency temporary standards are approved, dental practices should continue to comply with the ETS that took effect November 2020. CDA will keep members informed about updated Cal/OSHA regulations. 

Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, dentists and other prescribers in California must issue electronic-data prescriptions for both controlled and noncontrolled substances with very few exceptions. Paper prescriptions will no longer be allowed by state law, as CDA previously reported.

 

All pharmacies across the state, too, must be capable of accepting those prescriptions and are required to immediately notify prescribers if the electronic transmission fails or is incomplete.

To better serve licensees with greater speed and accuracy, the Dental Board of California (Board) will convert to an online-only renewal process beginning with the July 2021 renewal cycle.

As part of this transition, licensees/permit holders will no longer receive the current renewal notice by mail. Licensees/permit holders will instead be mailed a renewal reminder postcard approximately 90 days prior to their expiration date for each license or permit they hold.

To aid licensees/permit holders in this transition, the Board recommends that licensees/permit holders that are not currently registered on the BreEZe system set up their account now to avoid any technological or account issues when renewing a license or permit near the expiration date.

For information on setting up a BreEZe account and renewing online, please visit the BreEZe webpage at www.BreEZe.ca.gov.

In addition to renewing online, licensees can apply for a new permit and make changes to their information, such as updating a mailing address or requesting a duplicate license.

Until the transition, licensees can continue to renew online or by mail. If there are any additional questions or concerns, please contact the Board by phone at (916) 263-2300, or by email at dentalboard@dca.ca.gov.

This toolkit was created to help dentists and the dental team understand currently available information about the COVID-19 vaccine, its distribution landscape and the process for vaccine administration as a licensed dentist. Additionally, this toolkit provides best practices and resources for dentist employers who have questions about the vaccine and their staff. 

As of Jan. 1, employers may voluntarily provide emergency paid sick leave or emergency paid FMLA leave under FFCRA. If an employer chooses to voluntarily offer leave, it must be used for the same purposes and subject to the same conditions as originally outlined in FFCRA.