Health Information Management

Facilities offering Internet access to patients, visitors

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, January 23, 2006

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Some covered entities are offering patients and visitors the opportunity to access the Internet via a wireless connection while at their facilities, The Akron Beacon Journal reports.

The connections allow patients to bring in a wireless-enabled laptop and connect to the Internet while they recover. It also allows family members and other visitors to spend time online in waiting rooms.

To meet HIPAA security requirements, most of these hospitals use a separate network for patient and visitor Internet access. For example, Ohio-based Akron General Hospital uses two firewalls to protect the network that contains patient information. WRH Health System, also in Ohio, allows only specially encrypted devices to connect with the network containing PHI.

Click here to read The Akron Beacon Journal article.



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