Health Information Compliance Alert

Quiz your security officers to be sure.

For compliance, be sure your privacy policies cover the following, advises the American Health Information Management Association.

--Access to data
--Accounting of disclosures
--Amendment of records
--Audits
--Authentication of individuals
--Authorization to disclose
--Business associates
--Code of conduct
--Computer disposal
--Computer use
--Consent for psychotherapy records
--Consent for general use and disclosure
--Data use agreement
--Discipline
--Employee access to protected health information (PHI)
--Employee code of behavior
--Employee confidentiality
--Employee screening
--Facsimile form
--Hybrid entity
--IRB policies
--Job description--Privacy Officer
--Medical record location
--Data inventory
--Minimum necessary requirements
--Notice of health information practices
--External destruction of data
--Internal destruction of data
--Training
--Record retention
--Reporting mechanism
--Request for PHI
--Restricting use of PHI
--Awareness of HIPAA
--Internet posting of the Notice

Note: For additional tools and resources related to HIPAA privacy rule compliance, go to the Web site of the Health Privacy Project at www.healthprivacy.org/.