In the last post, we saw how the HIPAA Security Rule’s administrative, physical, and technical safeguards help defend your organization against the hydra of security threats. Now, we’ll turn our attention to privacy safeguards. You know the HIPAA Privacy Rule requires...
You don’t need to be a healthcare professional to know that data breaches have plagued the industry for years. A breach is an impermissible use or disclosure that compromises the privacy or security of protected health information (PHI). According to the HIPAA Breach...
Every day, you share patients’ protected health information (PHI) to carry out tasks at work. However, is it okay to share PHI without the patient’s permission? In many cases, yes. HIPAA allows you to share PHI both internally and with business associates if it helps...
In a recent Kentucky court case, a hospital fired a nurse for an alleged HIPAA privacy violation. The nurse had been helping a technician and physician prepare for a medical procedure, telling them to wear gloves because the patient had Hepatitis C. After the...
There are serious consequences to impermissibly disclosing patients’ protected health information (PHI). This is a paralyzing prospect to many healthcare employees. Consequently, some staff members refuse to use or disclose PHI to the point that their workflow is...