HIPAA Q&A: Sign-in sheet concerns
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, December 27, 2010
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Q. Our outpatient medical clinics currently have a daily open patient sign-in sheet. This allows patients to see who has signed in before them. Does this practice violate HIPAA?
A. Technically, this doesn’t violate HIPAA, especially if you limit requested information to the minimum necessary (patient name and date/time of arrival). The sign-in sheet should not include any information about the reason for any patient’s visit. However, this is not a best practice. Instead of using sign-in sheets, many healthcare organizations now ask patients to check in with a receptionist or to complete a brief form or label and return it to the receptionist.
Editor’s note: Mary D. Brandt, vice president, health information management, at Scott &White Healthcare, Temple, TX, answered this question. She is a nationally recognized expert on patient privacy, information security, and regulatory compliance, and her publications provided some of the basis for HIPAA’s privacy regulations. Advice given is general. Readers should consult professional counsel for specific legal, ethical, or clinical questions.
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