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Dental practice owners should be prepared for major changes to the California Family Rights Act. The changes take effect Jan. 1, 2021, and will impact very small businesses who will soon be required to provide 12 workweeks of job-protected unpaid family leave benefits to eligible employees annually. 

CDA is encouraging practice owners to maintain best practices this fall and winter to protect themselves, their patients and their staff against the flu virus. Getting vaccinated is even more important this year to help reduce the strain on health care systems responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Military families will be eligible for Paid Family Leave benefits beginning Jan. 1, 2021. Dental practice owners are encouraged to update their employee handbooks regarding military exigency and Paid Family Leave benefits.

Sunstar Americas, Inc. has recalled its prescription oral rinse due to a possible microbial contamination. The product could be contaminated with the bacteria Burkholderia lata and may result in life-threatening infections.

As team members begin making holiday plans with friends and family, practice owners may be concerned about whether employees are following COVID-19 safety precautions outside of the workplace and what affect it could have on the dental practice.

Practice owners should revise their COVID-19 contact tracing protocols to reflect the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new guidelines on what it means to have been in close contact with an infected person. This could mean analyzing brief interactions between employees and infected colleagues or patients that may have occurred several times a day, instead of one or two prolonged exposures.

Practice owners should be cautious of the latest string of ransomware attacks targeting health care providers. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is warning providers to be aware of cybercriminals targeting the health care and public health sector for financial gain.

The American Dental Association has released a COVID-19 & Lab Testing Requirements Toolkit to aid dentists who are interested in incorporating rapid point-of-care testing in their practice. To assist members with California-specific requirements, CDA’s Clinical Care Workgroup will release additional POC testing guidance next month.

Three California dentists discuss how HHS' Provider Relief Fund payments have helped them cover COVID-19-related expenses and revenue loss. Two of the dentists applied for Phase-3 add-on payments.