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| HIPAA 101 |
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by Marcos A. Vargas, MSHA, PA-C - October 3, 2011
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Regardless of all the layers of legal complexities involving HIPAA, you’ll come to one undeniable conclusion and one undeniable regulatory mandate: you must protect patient confidentiality (private personal health history) vigorously. That’s the bottom line duty you’re called to vigilantly uphold of this near-sacrosanct federal mandate.
Therefore, in order to be at your highest conformance with the law and protect your patients’ privacy and yourself, you must follow and incorporate a few Risk Management tips into your practice. By adhering to them, you will lessen any HIPAA violation claims or breaches potentially brought against you & your employer. Here they are:
♦ Never share your sign-on codes or passwords with colleagues or friends. Always log off from all electronic systems after you finish your session or are briefly interrupted. Again, exit or close the system no matter how long you plan to be gone.
♦ Only access records of patients you’re treating. Avoid accessing or reviewing your own personal health records or those of friends/family members by using your personal sign-on or some one else’s sign-on codes. Should you want/need to review your own records it’s always best to contact the Medical Records department first to sign an authorization. Likewise, refer your relatives and/or friends to Health Information Services to access their personal records. If you’re the legal guardian be ready to corroborate this too.
♦ Never leave patient records or any pertinent paperwork or EHR unattended even for brief periods of time or to return later to it – even in areas of low visibility or “relatively safe” spots in your office or clinic.
♦ When consulting, refrain from sticking patient labels or other identifiers on your lab coat sleeves, shirt pockets or scrub shirts/pants, etc. Even patient rounding lists must be secured and controlled so they don’t fall from your pockets or end up left lying around inadvertently.
♦ Always secure patient’s permission prior to discussing any medical care issues in front of friends and/or relatives.
If a semi-private room is involved, then lower your voice to a low discrete tone or return at a later time when there are no visitors. Also abstain from discussing patients or their information in open areas like the elevators, lobby, hallway or cafeteria. These are areas where most providers drop their guard. As the saying goes: “loose lips sink ships”.
Better yet, always treat patient’s personal information as it was your very own and consider how you would want this information handled by other professionals you trusted. If ever in doubt, always contact your Risk Manager or Healthcare Legal Consult for advisory services. Moreover, disclose and/or release the least amount of information necessary.
 Marcos A. Vargas, MSHA, PA-C is a Boston born and Puerto Rican bred individual who has an extensive healthcare industry background, both industry-related as a Pharmacy Technician during his undergraduate years, and industry-specific as a dually N.C.C.P.A. certified Physician Assistant in Surgery and Primary care after graduating from the University of Alabama—Birmingham Physician/Surgeon’s Assistant Program. He has held clinical positions in Cardiothoracic, General Surgery, & Emergency Medicine over the past twenty years. He holds a Master’s in Science Administration from Central Michigan University and a Healthcare Risk Management graduate certificate. He has been retained and consulted regularly by both plaintiff & defense law firms over the past 14 years. During this time, he has served as both a consulting medical reviewer and a PA expert. Marcos has lectured on Clinical Risk Management (PA) issues throughout the years to various Michigan-based PA Training Programs. He has done the same for lay audiences, covering a wide range of “Wellness” topics. He has been a supporter and associate member of numerous professional clinical and non-clinical organizations. Currently he is employed as an orthopedic PA at HMC.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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