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HIPAA Case Scenarios

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DATE: December 19, 2016
TO: New Employee
FROM: Jessica Cionca
SUBJECT: What to Avoid When Facing a Consistent Issue in the Healthcare Setting
Summary:
Given below is what to except as a new employee in the healthcare system as a Registration Representative. There are many positive benefits when working in the hospital, but there are several issues that could potentially terminate any employee. I have provided what should be avoided in order to maintain the position.
Introduction:
There are several benefits from this job; however, there is one specific problem that shows itself consistently throughout this position. This problem is the protection of patient privacy or also known as HIPAA. HIPAA stands for, "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act". This law protects the …show more content…

Since working in a fast pace environment, it is very easy to release information without true intent.
As a new employee, it is very important to follow these set of instructions given:
• When entering a patient 's room, remember to close the door behind. If the door is left open, people walking by the room could possibly over hear the conversation. This could lead to a potential violation of HIPAA.
• When retrieving information from a nurse to update the patient 's file, never share that information to another nurse even if a question is asked. It is against HIPAA, and if a fellow employee overhears, it could cause possibly termination.
• When asking a patient to update his demographic information on paper, be sure do it when other patients are not around. Scan the sheet immediately into the computer and dispose of if correctly in a shred-bin located in either zone of the emergency department.
• When a family member of a patient comes in to the emergency looking for that patient, be sure the family member can verify the date of birth and first and last name of the patient they wish to

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