PROFFESSA HEALTH SERVICES

With all the latest debate and concern around the Protection of State Information Bill, it is not surprising that a fair amount of uncertainty has arisen around the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) Manual.  The act was promulgated in 2000 to bring into effect the constitutional right of access to any information held by the state and any information that is held by private bodies (this includes sole practitioners) which is required for the exercise or protection of any rights.  Section 9 of the act does however recognise that access to information can be limited.  These limitations are…

Prescribed Minimum Benefits (PMBs) must be paid in full. This was the ruling handed down this morning by the Gauteng High Court after the Board of Health Care Funders of Southern Africa (BHF) and the South African Municipal Workers’ Union National Medical Scheme approached the court asking for a declaratory order on the interpretation of the words ‘pay in full’ as in appears in Regulation 8 of the Medical Schemes Act. BHF sought to convince the court that ‘pay in full’ should be interpreted as meaning ‘pay in full according to the rules of the medical scheme’ and not ‘pay…

In a development that could have huge implications for quadriplegics, paraplegics and those with prosthetic limbs, researchers from Duke University and the Ecole Polytechnic Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) have developed technology that has allowed monkeys to control a virtual arm and touch and feel virtual objects using only their brain activity. The researchers say it is the first-ever demonstration of a two-way interaction between a primate brain and a virtual body and could lead to robotic exoskeletons that not only that allows paralyzed patients to walk again, but to also feel the ground beneath them.  Read more…

Deon and I recently attended a very interesting workshop on Policies & Procedures presented by The South African Labour Guide. We felt we needed to get the latest rules and regulations as we are in the business of writing policies, procedures and employment contract for medical practices. The food was awesome, but we also learned a few interesting facts which we would like to share with you. FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY LEAVE: The Basic Conditions of Employment states that employees are entitled to 3 days family responsibility leave where the Sectoral Determination 7 indicates that domestic workers are entitled to 5 days…

Fin24: Tax on NHI not expected in short term: A tax to fund the government’s national health insurance (NHI) system will not be introduced in the short term, deputy director general public finance in the National Treasury Andrew Donaldson was reported as saying this week. … http://t.co/Voy9kR1J