May 10th Update

Car Allowance: please recall that we are instituting a policy that will allow much greater use of pre-tax money to pay for auto expenses. Attached is the explanation and policy statement. Since this car allowance will be paid to you in addition to your salary (just like if you submitted a reimbursement form for travel, etc.), if it is more than a small amount you should consider decreasing your draw to account for it, since it does count against your financials as a direct expense. Supporting documentation should be sent to Finance as soon as you have it. Click here  for the policy>

Email banner: after the recent phishing/spoofing attacks, you may see in the future a colored banner at the top of emails coming from outside the organization to reinforce a sense of caution in opening attachments, similar to what those of you who also use hhchealth.org accounts see. It shouldn’t be intrusive, just a soft reminder at the top of the message, as there is some data that shows it can decrease success of attacks in terms of users opening malicious attachments.

EMTALA/HHC Newsletter: anyone on staff at THOCC probably got the attached newsletter. It suggests that one is risking an EMTALA violation if one does not accept a transfer from another HHC facility as part of the new transfer center system they’ve implemented, which has resulted in requests for transfers to THOCC from sites such as Wyndham and Backus. Be advised that our attorneys do not believe this concern has merit. I have communicated this to HHC administration. They are receptive to discussing issues surrounding their desire to make THOCC a transfer center and how that interacts with call volumes and the issue of pay for calls. Click here for the newsletter>