Health Information Management

Medical staff have loose lips when it comes to patient info, study claims

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, June 21, 2004

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Indiscrete conversations between clinicians in hallways, elevators, and over the telephone are common, unchecked, and damaging to patient confidentiality, according to researchers at West Virginia University and Perdue University, reports the Washington Post June 11.

The researchers visited high-traffic areas in hospitals to collect evidence of staff carelessly discussing patient conditions and treatments-and revealing sensitive information such as social security numbers, says the Post.

"We found that daily conversations of physicians, nurses, hospital staff, and technicians can jeopardize this kind of information," a researcher told the Post.



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