Health Information Compliance Alert
Are You Protecting Your PHI In Emergencies? Decision Tool Helps You Find Out
Answer 3 questions and keep your emergency plan HIPAA complaint. The tool also helps you determine your most relevant "emergency preparedness planning need" and then prompts you to click through a series of follow-up questions (which include questions about the purpose(s) disclosure might serve) that will help you decide whether or not the information may be disclosed.
Were you aware that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) offers a Web-based interactive decision tool for emergency preparedness and recovery planners?
Check out the decision tool on OCR Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/decisiontool/EmergencyPrepDisclose.pdf.
Compliance angle: The chart is designed to help providers use protected health information about disabled persons in a manner that accords with the 1996 HIPAA Privacy Rule.
The intended audience: All covered entities and emergency preparedness and recovery planners at the local, state and federal levels.
How it works: The decision tree guides you through a series of questions designed to help you apply the HIPAA Privacy Rule to particular disclosure(s). These questions are organized around three general questions:
1. Who is the source of the information to be disclosed?
2. To whom is the information being disclosed?
3. Is there a signed affidavit permitting the disclosure?
Resource: To view the OCR's emergency preparedness Web site, see http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/emergencyPPR.html.
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