I like this, it’s about time we had someone other than the buffoons at the FSC as a resource the performers can use to know if they have been exposed or not. The database only works if it’s used and with the agents booking a large percentage of performers I expect it will be. Good job, kudos to TTS.
TTS Begins Beta Testing of its TTS HealthWatch (TTShw) Program
January 13th, 2014
Talent Testing Service, Inc. (TTS) has launched live beta testing of its TTS HealthWatch (TTShw) program.
At a Glance
TTS HealthWatch (TTShw), is a database of events with performers compiled by producers, agents and talents themselves indicating who performed with whom. By entering this information in the database, a generational testing tree can be produced within seconds thus permitting a rapid response during an industry moratorium when callbacks are initiated. The system is open to current participating and non-participating TTS customers….the system is for the benefit of all industry stakeholders.
Triple Tier Check System
TTShw has been built to have a system of checks and balances. Production information received from producers, agents and talents will permit the generational tree created to be more robust avoiding any splintering in the identification and testing of possible infected cases.
Beta Testing Sites and Implementation Process
Currently TTShw is being tested at select production companies. Once this initial testing is completed and feedback has been obtained and implemented, the process will then move on to agents and talents. Obtaining feedback from these three stakeholders during this process is as important as the system itself. It is expected that by the end of the first quarter of 2014, the system will be up and operational at a national level. Additional production companies that would also like to participate in the beta testing phase should contact TTS via [email protected].
“2013 was the year of moratoriums for the adult industry.” said Sixto Pacheco, President & CEO of TTS. “We believe that the industry as a whole can manage these shutdowns swiftly and efficiently with the use of the TTShw program. At this time we have begun beta testing at select Production Companies obtaining initial feedback in order to enhance its features before implementing it at a national level.” Pacheco continued.
About Talent Testing Services, Inc. (TTS)
As the leader in setting testing standards for the industry, Talent Testing Service, Inc. (TTS) consistently offers talents safe, courteous, affordable and convenient testing through wholly owned subsidiaries or collaborating sites. Since 2007, TTS has provided the most advanced infectious molecular testing for the adult industry.
TTS is a privately held company with headquarters in Miami, Florida and a subsidiary office in Los Angeles, CA.
https://www.talenttestingservice.com [email protected] Miami, FL (Headquarters) (305) 792 2090 / Los Angeles (818) 885 0812 Twitter: @talenttesting Facebook: facebook.com/talenttestingservice
25 Responses
Talent Testing Services Introduces HealthWatch Database http://t.co/LhgaEUDwIY
RT @MikeSouth1226: Talent Testing Services Introduces HealthWatch Database http://t.co/LhgaEUDwIY
RT @MikeSouth1226: Talent Testing Services Introduces HealthWatch Database http://t.co/LhgaEUDwIY
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On paper this sounds like a great idea, in reality it will never worked. AIM tried in the past, but virtually no producers would participate, and they had good reason.
Years ago Mitch testified in front of a State Assembly committee and said they had a system like this in place. Years later, this testimony was used as the basis for OSHA to seek employment records from AIM. OSHA made the dererminationn that AIM was acting as an “agent of the employers” and was therefore subject to OSHA insepction.
TTs, a private for profit company, will surely be deemed an “agent of the employers” by OSHA. Keeping the names of the employers out of OSHA’s hands is one of the most important factors is the industryt testing scheme.
TTS being a private for profit companyt will certainly be deemed an agent of the employers who, with the voluntary cooperation of the producers(employers). As has been seen in the past with AIM, performer privacy means nothing, it is all about keeping the employers anonymous.
Producers will never participatre in this program, lest they loose any anonimity when the next moratoruim is declared. There is no
medical privacy issue here in a database that just says who worked with whom.
Great idea in theory, but this same idea already has a history of failure, and no producers are going to put all their employee records into a database that they dont control.
You make some interesting points, and one thing that jumped out at me is that it isnt JUST the producers who will participate it is also the agents and the performers, While I dont see most performers using it I do see the agents using it.
Another thing, Sixto is no dummie I expect he has legal assistance on this but it will be interesting to see if it works or not…bet ya we know this year 😉
Old saying, “Anythng you say can and will be used against you”
This program right here is exactly the kind of thing that would make OSHA’s job alot easier. Even back when AIM was first formed, people warned that it would eventually be used against the industry, and after ten years that proved to be true.
These types of comprehensive records of who worked with whom, on specific dates, would be a goldmine for OSHA, and put the EMPLOYERS at risk of being held liable for what happens on their sets. It has always been about keeping the producers(employers) sheiled from liability, and this system does NOT sheild producers, it puts thier employment records out there for everyone to see, and that is why it will never be successful.
Sixto need not worry about anything. He wont be held liable for what happens in the workplaces. Workplaces that will lose their anonimity are the ones that need be concerned.
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RT @MikeSouth1226: Talent Testing Services Introduces HealthWatch Database http://t.co/LhgaEUDwIY
Jilted I couldn’t agree with you more about the producers not wanting to be a part of all this. But don’t you think this is the same thing FSC tried with the 2257 theory? And all this sounds a bit confusing to me, isn’t TTS the testing facility who took 3 or 4 days to tell the last HIV + that he was +. I mean how swiftly is that to shut the industry down? Before all this flops, perhaps Porno Dan should reconsider before backing his good friend Sixto. But then again what does Porno Dan care about safety, isn’t he the one to always go against the moratorium?
@JW,
TTS has a very specific protocol for releasing HIV+ rresults. In the latest case they got a preliminary positive result, called the patient, and told him he needed to provide antoher sample for confimatory tests. This person did NOT provide that sample to TTS, instead decided to go to CET, where the complete battery of tests were done and he was determined to be HIV positive. You cannot blame TTS because the PATIENT refused to provide them another sample to confirm their results
I agree this is a good idea, but it will never work, simply because producers do not want there to be a specific record, readily available for OSHA . The real problem in putting quarantine lists tohether is that alot performers do not keep track of their contacts. If every performer just took, litteraly five seconds to write all their contact names in a little notebook there would be no need for this.
After the 2004 incidents a system just like this was developed, they called it AdultDat, which was a play on words from the LabDat system that AIM used to give passwords to for patient results. AIM tried, but nobody, including performers, cooperated. After all, this is the porn business, and asking someone to take five seconds to improve the performer testing system is, as we all know, just way too much. If you even think that anybody would take five seconds out of their ultra busy day to do this then I got a bridge for sale in Brooklyn for ya.
Not a huge fan of PDan, but isnt he the one that uses condoms now?
And TTS marked TJ Cumming unavailable the day they got the preliminary test back.
And VIVID also went against the moratorium, so did Devils Films.
Bag on Porno Dan all ya like but he is one of a precious few that is actually acting responsibly and abiding by the law.
Yes PDan uses condoms, if you call cutting the tips off of them is considered to be using condoms then he uses them. And as for TJ being marked unavailable, unless all the test are done you will be marked unavailable its automatic at TTS. BTW TTS never told TJ, and for 3 days they just strung him along, finally they told him they needed more blood that’s when he went to CET and got results the next morning. Why did it take one testing facility 4 days and another 1 day to get a answer? Try reading TRPWL questions and answers about the HIV +, that’s the time line and it is correct according to people who are close to TJ.
That is TJs story but its not true, I know that from fact checking, something that eludes the other site you mentioned.
This healthwatch database is exciting in that it paves the way to be more like a mainstream health cooperative with shared costing. OSHA looking at the medical facility as an agent/service etc of the employer is less of a concern than the ability to start an implement immediate partner notification. The ability for agents as well as producers to enter data is huge and a big step to actually having performer medical confidentiality. OSHA is a complaint driven system that doesn’t move unless they get told there is a problem. If a problem showed up the medical facility could maintain patient confidentiality using this database that wouldn’t have any medical info it. Even if released it would just show where people worked on any given day, highlighting the compliant producers/agents/performers allowing OSHA to hunt up the non-compliants.
I’d like to see it expanded to include performers entering as well…non-agent represented performers doing content trades as well as escorting need to be considered.
This database could be a first step to actually having a system where the producers (agents/performers) could order the health limits forms and cooperative billing that would share costs between producers/agents/performers by usage during any testing period. Doing it this way would be OSHA compliance according to the draft policy that hasn’t been submitted for public input yet.
I hope it has prior date entry available for those producers and agents who haven’t been using it that will be able to input when HIV shows up giving more breadth to partner notification to use the limits form quarantine method vs the industry moratorium which is ignored.
One of the many flaws in this proposed system is you have no clue how many people are NOT putting in their information.
Not one single producer is compliant with OSHA regulations, not even condom using PDan. OSHA regulations state that the employer pay for POST EXPOSURE testing, and treatment. A system like this would tell OSHA exactly who an infected person worked for, and that is the main reason producers will not participate, because it tells OSHA who the employer is, and the entire porn testing system is specifically designed to sheild the producers from liability.
@jilted
Yes I am aware of the rampant non-compliance which is exactly why I hope there is prior date entry available.
Right now producers can use PASS to bypass OSHA to prove they are using pre and post exposure testing. There is no way to prove pre-exposure vaccination.
AIM had a lot of good services that are sorely missed as more time goes by. I’ll never be a fan of how it was set up to avoid taxes and oversight while enuring individuals which is why it ultimately closed even after going to a profit structure that would be accountable to the state medical ? (Can’t recall the board but it was corrected in the LATimes) to avoid LACPH.
As the industry moves to Nevada the need to address the nationwide industry will be more apparent. Florida, while it has a large industry presence is just one of many areas that need industry support for adequate testing and industry standards.
The coming two to five years are going to reveal many changes which can be done willy nilly still allowing any tom dick or Harry willing to download a 99cent app for 2257 compliance (as well as tech skills to shoot, edit and load onto a maintained site) the ability to produce porn OR it can pave the way to a process of elimination and exclusion for anyone but the most dedicated.
It’s those dedicated folks who are afraid and unwilling to risk the expenses of legitimate mainstream industries. For too long the ideals of no taxes via non-profit structure with the ideal of self regulation to justify not paying into the government that they want out of their business has ignored the reality that they pass the economic burden for their success onto performers, private health foundations and public health.
The ACA that many were so excited about is a bigger fear than OSHA. As more and more performers use this to pay for the testing available and subsequent treatments the “government” will have access to industry health data. We will be more like countries with socialized medicine where a price for that free clinic testing will be a clerk who demands occupation to fill in the blank.
Private medical facilities will make clients aware that they could save x $ by submitting a claim to their policy which any fool is gonna jump on then when enough claims have been paid the “government” is gonna cry foul and start hitting producers with fines and penalties that will make the accompanying OSHA fines look like chicken feed.
There are politicians in every party jumping up and down for their industry constituents crying foul about industries using ACA for their employees getting an unfair economic burden (walmart, fast food franchisees) to (construction, unions, banks etc) those that not only bear the costs of providing health insurance but see their taxes now going into a system they don’t benefit from. No matter how they structure policy premiums they haven’t been able to avoid “government” costs with ACA.
Regarding the ‘oversight’ of AIM. Being a non profit did not sheild AIM from any oversight, quite the opposite acutally. AIM was watched like a hawk by everyone from the LACHD to the CDC. AIM was wathced more closely than virtually any clinid in southern California .
No insurance policy, not even the new ObummerCare will pay for monthy hiv and std testing. Hell, most insurance policies will only pay for one cholesterol test per year. Testing, pre-employment, and post exposure is the legal responsibility of PRODUCERS, period, end of conversation. Why producers get away with everything they get away with, good question, wish I knew the answer.
Yes, Dan has the required Measure B permit and uses condoms. But he does not pay for testing, or post exposure testing and treatment, things that are his legal responsibility.
Lets just say that PDan abides by a few of the laws, but not even close to all of the laws. No producers do, not a single one.
@jilted
It is true that the LACPH scrutinized AIM and OSHA exceeded its authority to address a complaint. It’s also true that the dedicated employees of AIM went above and beyond in their desire to serve their patients. This doesn’t change that the employees were working in a situation beyond their control via AIM structure created as a non-profit to ensure a few individuals increased profits. Complaints caused increased regulatory scrutiny that AIM couldn’t avoid and expensive legal liabilities. Along the way the state discovered that the license in place didn’t give them authority and closed them down as an improperly licensed medical facility. The responsible individuals didn’t do what they had to do to maintain the provisional license used to reopen and had no way to start from scratch with open doors with people abandoning ship to avoid liability they created.
Pointing out actions of those responsible for founding AIM in way the great job the dedicated employees did to provide patient services and awareness. In fact their ability to do so well for so long is a testament to their superior service that didn’t invite the regulatory scrutiny much sooner as well as how the founding individuals intents and greed bit AIM in the ass. Setting up AIM with the intent of truly meeting their purposes within the existing regulatory policies it might still be open and serving today, instead a few individuals decided they knew better than all the experts/knowledge/process of policy to reinvent the wheel of industry HIV prevention.
Reinventing the wheel (self regulation) to suit their purposes didn’t meet legal requirements causing the patient records liability they blamed for their demise. Blaming PWL, LACPH scrutiny or AHF ignores the reality that founding individuals choice to suit their purposes only worked as long as it did with dedicated employees going above and beyond in patient care adhering to medical standards that didn’t conflict with industry self regulatory interests.
Agreed that no insurance including ACA will cover monthly testing. They will still have treatment expenses and data regardless of how often. I’m saying that just like AIM was a victim of individual interests 2013 opened the door to end the free ride stakeholders have been on. The business model isn’t sustainable through the coming scrutiny.
Oops “in NO way diminishes the great job” paragraph two 🙂
I dont necessarily agree that OSHA overstepped their bounds. Sharon Mitchell testified that AIM had a system(Adultdat) that tracked who worked with whom, and that producers input the information. Based on this OSHA determined that AIM was acting as ‘an agent of the empoyers’ and was therefor subject to inspection based on a complaint. OSHA was not seeking medical records from AIM, they were seeking employment records, but you would never know this if you were reading AVN or Xbiz. The only problem is Mitch wasnt entirely truthful while they were given the Adultdat system, nobody ever participated, and that is why no one will participate in the new proposed program.
AIM failed as a business for the same reason many businesses fail, financial mismanagement and some would argue, financial shenanigans. And then, after all was said and done, all of AIM’s records were ‘intentionally and willfully’ destroyed. Did you ever wonder why they destroyed thier records, including the agreements that producers signed in order to get access to patient results? I wonder if copies of those agreements exist anywhere else? Hmmmm.(ps, illegally accessing someones electronic medical records is punishable by 25k fine or six months in prison, for every single count. Considering dozens of producers accessed those records thousands upon thousands of times, well, you do the math, and then think again about why they intentionally destroyed those records. You see, it was ALWAYS about protecting producers pocketbooks, and was never about performer health.
@Lurking,
it is possible that the FSC, and even Nina Hartley and Ernest Greene(AIM Board members) did not even know of the true financial situation AIM was in for years before they ultimately closed. OSHA and AHF became very convinient scapegoats for AIM to cover up for their financial shenanigans. Like I said, it is possible that the likes of Dianne Duke were not even aware of the financial situation AIM was in, and the OSHA/AHF story seemed totaly plausible. The bankruptcy papers tell a different story, the real story, and now that the real story has been out there, the likes of Dianne Duke continue to spew the lies about OSHA and AHF. The bankruptcy papers dont lie, well except for a few of those listed ‘debtors.’