Q: I work for a home health agency. They’ve recently instructed us not to wear scrubs, lab coats, or anything that could obviously identify us as healthcare professionals. They’ve asked us to wear more business/professional casual attire because some patients complained that their neighbors saw nurses coming into the house and were concerned it was a HIPAA violation. Is this really a HIPAA concern, or could this be considered an incidental disclosure?
Q: Our state child support enforcement agency requested the medical records of one of our pediatric patients. Are we allowed to respond to this request without a subpoena?
CMS announced certain public health emergency policies have been enacted in California to assist those affected by the recent wildfires across the state.
The protected health information of more than 16,000 individuals was breached after hackers gained access to data from a Maryland-based clinic group as part of a phishing scam.
Q: A patient in the emergency room (ER) recently complained that she could hear the doctor and nurses discussing details of care of the patient in the bed next to hers. I understand that we should avoid disclosures, but the ER is often noisy and chaotic. How should we handle this situation?
Having just witnessed nature wreak havoc with back-to-back hurricanes, I feel it’s important to take a few minutes to remind everyone of the importance of Plan B—the backup plan. Let’s look at some real examples of how HIM professionals can be proactive to prevent chaos when unexpected events occur.
