HIPAA Q&A: Patient account numbers
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, October 4, 2010
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Q. We use numeric patient account numbers that cannot be tied back to a patient except by a workforce member authorized to access our EHR. Is it a violation of HIPAA to include these numbers in Microsoft Outlook calendar meeting reminders? Can it lead to inappropriate disclosure?
A. No. This is not a violation as long as the reminders don’t list patient names and can only be accessed by authorized workforce members. It is unlikely that an unauthorized individual would be able to identify a patient by viewing a workforce member’s Outlook calendar schedule. This means that even incidental disclosure is improbable.
Editor’s note: Chris Apgar, CISSP, answered this question. He is president of Apgar & Associates, LLC, in Portland, OR. He has more than 17 years’ experience in IT and specializes in security compliance, assessments, training, and strategic planning.
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