| HIPAA
News Flash: HIPAA
News You Can Use-
Under
HIPAA, do I need to document disclosures of protected
health
information to Business Associates?
Yes,
you do need to account for disclosures of protected
health information to business associates. Wait, don't
fall off your seat! The list of exceptions to the requirement
to account for disclosures contains one exception that
should fit 90% of all the disclosures that you will
make to a business associate: treatment, payment, and
health care operations.
Therefore, if you are making the disclosure for one
of these three reasons, you do NOT have to account for
the disclosure. There are a handful of other exceptions,
but this one should make everyone's job a lot simpler.
HIPAA News You Can Use-
Under HIPAA,
am I able to send a FAX with patient medical information
to another provider's office?
The HIPAA
Privacy Rule went into effect in April of 2003, specifically
permits physicians and other healthcare providers to
disclose patient health information to another health
care provider for treatment purposes. This can be done
by fax or other means, as long as, reasonable safeguards
are in
place to protect the privacy of that information.
An example
of reasonable safeguards for faxing would include the
following:
1) The sender
of the fax confirms that the fax number that was provided
is valid and correct for the facility
2) The fax machine is located in a secure location to
prevent unauthorized viewing or access.
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