Ask Yourself:- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Ask Yourself:- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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April 18, 2000
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In This Issue:
Transplant recipient gears up for Marathon
A better way to predict heart attacks
Ask Yourself:
Spring into a Healthy Heart
Pike Notes
Meet Julie Von Lambsdorff
Town Meeting
Walk for hunger
Protecting patient confidentiality is everyone’s responsibility. Please remember: • It is never appropriate to discuss clinical information in public areas, such as the cafeteria, hallways, or elevators, even if the patient’s name is not used. • Staff and employees should remember they have access on a “need-to-know” basis to sensitive information and patient records. Accessing patient information not required to perform one’s job is a violation of the BWH confidentiality policy. • Confidential papers, including papers with patient information, must be kept in a secure place and safeguarded according to the confidentiality policy. Confidential papers should be shredded or torn and properly discarded when no longer needed. Simply placing the papers in the recycling bin is not an appropriate way to dispose of confidential information. • Patient information should never be released without a Release of Information form signed by the patient, which allows BWH to release information to another location. Fax machines are the least controllable technology to transmit patient information outside of BWH. The following information is protected by federal and/or state statutes, and may NOT be faxed or photocopied outside of BWH without specific written patient authorization: • Psychotherapy • Other professional services of a licensed psychologist • Social work counseling/therapy • Domestic violence victim’s counseling • Sexual assault counseling • HIV test results (Patient authorization required for EACH release request) • Records pertaining to sexually transmitted diseases • Alcohol and drug abuse records that are protected by Federal ConfidentialityRules (42 CFR Part 2). • The Internet is not a secure medium for forwarding patient-identifiable information. Besides being vulnerable to access by unauthorized individuals, a message can be sent to the correct person via the Internet and read by the wrong person, e.g. a family member of the patient or an employer of the patient (if sent to work account). Federal laws will soon be enacted under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for technical security mechanisms, administrative procedures, and physical safeguards of information. Clinical e-mail guidelines are currently in draft and will be available in BICS once approved. • Violation of patient confiden-tiality will result in disciplinary action. For a more complete list of patient confidentiality do(s) and don’t(s), go to the Utilities Menu in BICS; or contact Jackie Raymond, RHIA, director of Health Information Management, at ext. 6068.