Health Information Compliance Alert
CAST A CRITICAL EYE ON RESEARCH REQUESTS
Question: A visiting doctor wants to use our patients' medical information in an article she is co-authoring with three other doctors. Would this be covered under the privacy rule's research allowance, or do we need to ask our patients to authorize this disclosure?
Mississippi Subscriber
Answer:You have to ask for your patients' authorization for this disclosure, says Debbie Larios, an attorney with Miller & Martin in Nashville, TN. "The privacy rule's research provision is for clinical trials with an internal review board's approval," she explains.
Try this: Ask the visiting doctor to narrow down what kind of patients she and the other authors are interested in studying. Then you can track down those patients only, she suggests. Caution: This will involve a ton of work and may not be very successful, Larios warns.
The bottom line: Unless you have the time and resources to devote to the necessary legwork, your safest bet is to deny the visiting physician access to your patients' medical information, Larios advises.
Health Information Compliance Alert
- Compliance Update:
Stay Penalty Free By Redoubling Your Privacy Compliance Efforts
Health systems struggle to comply, survey suggests.
Once your HIPAA privacy program's in place, you may [...] - Compliance Tool:
Got It Covered? Audit Your HIPAA Policies With This Checklist
Quiz your security officers to be sure.
For compliance, be sure your privacy policies cover the [...] - YOU BE THE SECURITY EXPERT:
HOW DO YOU HANDLE AN ON-SITE PRIVACY RULE INVESTIGATION?
Question: We're adding to our privacy compliance handbook a section on how to respond to [...] - Training Strategies:
Use Your Risk Assessment As A Training Tool--Here's How
Compliance gaps can become training opportunities.
Conducting a thorough risk assessment is essential to protecting both [...] - Security Strategies:
'Scrub-A-Dub-Dub'--Take These Steps To Sanitize Your PHI
Don't scrap old computers before performing vital safety checks.
Covered entities, be forewarned: If state organizations [...] - Transactions Tool:
Survey Helps You Save Time And Money With Software Vendors
Stay tech savvy and HIPAA compliant with this checklist.
If you don't ask the right questions [...] - Privacy Strategies:
3-Step Process Helps Ensure HIPAA-Compliant Psychotherapy
For mental health care, let cooler heads prevail with patient notes.
While HIPAA doesn't require providers [...] - READER QUESTIONS:
SHOULD WE REPORT BOTH WRONGFUL AND INCIDENTAL DISCLOSURES?
Question: What is the difference between a wrongful and an incidental disclosure of protected health [...] - READER QUESTIONS:
KNOW WHEN JOB NECESSITATES RETRAINING
Question: When an employee changes jobs within your facility--say, from temp to permanent--what responsibility do [...] - READER QUESTIONS:
CAST A CRITICAL EYE ON RESEARCH REQUESTS
Question: A visiting doctor wants to use our patients' medical information in an article she [...] - INDUSTRY NEWS:
Providers Warm Up To Payer-Based EHRs
Carriers bring more providers on board with clinical quality assurance.
President's orders: All insurers, providers and [...]
