Private Practice Implements Safeguards for Waiting Rooms
Private Practice Implements Safeguards for Waiting Rooms
Covered Entity: Private Practice
Issue: Safeguards; Impermissible Uses and Disclosures
A staff member of a medical practice discussed HIV testing
procedures with a patient in the waiting room, thereby disclosing PHI to
several other individuals. Also, computer screens displaying patient
information were easily visible to patients. Among other corrective
actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the
provider to develop and implement policies and procedures regarding
appropriate administrative and physical safeguards related to the
communication of PHI. The practice trained all staff on the newly
developed policies and procedures. In addition, OCR required the
practice to reposition its computer monitors to prevent patients from
viewing information on the screens, and the practice installed computer
monitor privacy screens to prevent impermissible disclosures.
| May a covered entity dispose of protected health information in dumpsters accessible by the public? For example, depending on the circumstances, proper disposal methods may include (but are not limited to): Shredding or otherwise destroying PHI in paper records so that the PHI is rendered essentially unreadable, indecipherable, and otherwise cannot be reconstructed prior to it being placed in a dumpster or other trash receptacle.Maintaining PHI for disposal in a secure area and using a disposal vendor as a business associate to pick up and shred or otherwise destroy the PHI.In justifiable cases, based on the size and the ...read more |
| Private Practice Revises Process to Provide Access to Records Regardless of Payment Source Covered Entity: Private Practices Issue: Access At the direction of an insurance company that had requested an independent medical exam of an individual, a private medical practice denied the individual a copy of the medical records. OCR determined that the private practice denied the individual access to records to which she was entitled by the Privacy Rule. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required that the private practice revise its policies and procedures regarding access requests to reflect the ...read more |
| Hospital Implements New Minimum Necessary Polices for Telephone Messages Covered Entity: General Hospital Issue: Minimum Necessary; Confidential Communications A hospital employee did not observe minimum necessary requirements when she left a telephone message with the daughter of a patient that detailed both her medical condition and treatment plan. An OCR investigation also indicated that the confidential communications requirements were not followed, as the employee left the message at the patient’s home telephone number, despite the patient’s instructions to contact her through her work number. To resolve the issues in this case, the hospital developed and implemented several new procedures. ...read more |
| Issued by: Office for Civil Rights (OCR) What if a HIPAA covered entity (or business associate) uses a CSP to maintain ePHI without first executing a business associate agreement with that CSP? Answer: If a covered entity (or business associate) uses a CSP to maintain (e.g., to process or store) electronic protected health information (ePHI) without entering into a BAA with the CSP, the covered entity (or business associate) is in violation of the HIPAA Rules. 45 C.F.R §§164.308(b)(1) and §164.502(e). OCR has entered into a resolution agreement and corrective action plan with a covered entity that OCR determined ...read more |
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