Common Physician HIPAA Violations Save

A nice review by Physician Sense and MDLinx discusses potential physician violations of current HIPAA law, largely driven by the digital age and common work flows. Several mistakes you you be aware of and avoid, include:

Forwarding PHI to a personal email account

Using your email account, albeit easy, does not protect patient privacy and may violate your institution or employer’s policies. Patient info (if appropriate and according to HIPPA provisions) may be shared via encrypted secure networks.

Walking away from paperwork or a computer

You may be busy, but leaving open patient records compromises the patients personal info.

Disclosing patient information to an unauthorized person

Most of these are accidental, as in giving info over the phone to a family member (or someone claiming to be one) who isn’t authorized to receive it. Or during face-to-face interactions, when revealing info in the presence of an unauthorized individual or family member

Removable storage devices

USB memory devices can be tempting but risky as (unencrypted) patient data on a USB could be lost - same applies to other devices, such as tablets, and laptops.

Poor password management 

Best to invest in a secure password management program.