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In response to new federal patient privacy mandates, BWH is continuing to implement regulations that comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). While a six-member task force is charged with carrying out the implementation process, it is everyone’s role to understand and uphold the new HIPAA standards. In an effort to bring the message of HIPAA to the BWH community, a series of activities and informational sessions will be held during the first-ever Patient Privacy Week.
BWH’s Privacy Awareness Week will be held Monday, December 10 through Friday, December 14. The theme—“Caring for Patients While Respecting Their Privacy,” —emphasizes the roles and responsibilities of all staff in safeguarding protected health information. During the week, look for information and activities in the lobbies including a videotape which demonstrates best practices, privacy Do’s and Don’ts, the BWH/PHS Confidentiality Agreement, and email guidelines, applicable to all staff. All employees are encouraged to visit the Patient Privacy table outside the Cafeteria and take the privacy quiz, which qualifies participants in a raffle for a digital camera.
Privacy Awareness Week kicks off a series of important changes in managing the privacy of medical information at BWH. BWH’s audit processes have been redesigned by BWH Health Information Services, in conjunction with the BWH Confidentiality & Privacy Task Force. Random audits of access, to evaluate appropriateness and compliance with the Confidentiality Agreement, will now take place. “All employees should understand that they may be contacted to confirm that the information was accessed on a ‘need to know’ basis,” said Karen Nelson, director, Corporate and Regulatory Compliance.
To assist the HIPAA task force with this process, all employees are reminded to follow the practices listed below:
“With everyone’s help and cooperation, we can provide a private and secure health information system at BWH,” said Jacqueline Raymond, privacy officer.
All employees are encouraged to take advantage of the information and educational opportunities available throughout Patient Privacy Week to learn more about HIPAA and how it impacts their job.
For more information, contact Raymond or Nelson via email at (jraymond@partners.org) and (knelson@partners.org).