In this field we talk a lot about HIPAA, and many call it “the privacy act” or “security rule”.  Its true intention is the portability of the insurance coverage in order to provide continuity of coverage for workers and their families when they lose or change jobs.

The law covers several items related to safety and security of a patient’s information – things like responsibilities, verification, validation and training, amongst others.

One area that is worth  mentioning is Safeguards; this is the ensuring that confidential information remains secure.

All entities must have in place appropriate safeguards to ensure the protection of a person’s confidential information.  These security measures as described by HIPAA include administrative, technical and physical safeguards.  And many times we assume these are taking place. But do we really focus and protect our patient’s information on a continual basis?

Administrative safeguards require us to verify a patient and or their due representative.  Do we have signatures on file? Do we verify these every time we’re asked to provide information to persons other than the patient?  A good idea would be to include in the patient’s record a photocopy of their identification; this ID should be state issued.

Technical safeguards require us to use user names and passwords on computers containing patient information.  Do you always log-out when you walk away from your computer?  Remember, only persons who need to should be seeing a patient’s information.  Also remember to perform hardware backups in order to not only protect the information, but also to have it available in the event of a system malfunction.

Physical safeguards require us to keep physical records in a locked (preferably fireproof) area and are designated for the storage of paper records.  To ensure their security, you should have to go through two locks to get to the records.

Remember that safeguarding information is important in the daily operations of every healthcare facility.

Be Safe, Be Aware

Tags: American healthcare, billing and coding, electronic health records, file backup, healthcare information, HIPAA, medical billing, medical billing and coding, protecting information, Safeguards
This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 1:56 pm and is filed under Career Guidance, Healthcare Informatioon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.