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.
| If a CSP stores only encrypted ePHI and does not have a decryption key, is it a HIPAA business associate? Answer: Yes, because the CSP receives and maintains (e.g., to process and/or store) electronic protected health information (ePHI) for a covered entity or another business associate. Lacking an encryption key for the encrypted data it receives and maintains does not exempt a CSP from business associate status and associated obligations under the HIPAA Rules. An entity that maintains ePHI on behalf of a covered entity (or another business associate) is a business associate, even if the entity cannot actually ...read more |
| National Pharmacy Chain Extends Protections for PHI on Insurance Cards Covered Entity: Pharmacies Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Safeguards A pharmacy employee placed a customer's insurance card in another customer's prescription bag. The pharmacy did not consider the customer's insurance card to be protected health information (PHI). OCR clarified that an individual's health insurance card meets the statutory definition of PHI and, as such, needs to be safeguarded. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, the pharmacy revised its policies regarding PHI and retrained its staff. The revised policies are applicable to all individual ...read more |
| Pharmacy Chain Revises Process for Disclosures to Law Enforcement Covered Entity: Pharmacies Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures A chain pharmacy disclosed protected health information to municipal law enforcement officials in a manner that did not conform to the provisions of the Privacy Rule. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required this chain to revise its national policy regarding law enforcement's access to patient protected health information to comply with the Privacy Rule requirements, including that disclosures of protected health information to law enforcement only be made in response to written requests from ...read more |
| Pharmacy Chain Enters into Business Associate Agreement with Law Firm Covered Entity: Pharmacy Chain Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Business Associates A complaint alleged that a law firm working on behalf of a pharmacy chain in an administrative proceeding impermissibly disclosed the PHI of a customer of the pharmacy chain. OCR investigated the allegation and found no evidence that the law firm had impermissibly disclosed the customer’s PHI. However, the investigation revealed that the pharmacy chain and the law firm had not entered into a Business Associate Agreement, as required by the Privacy Rule to ensure that PHI is ...read more |
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