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Caller ID does not violate patients' privacy

HIPAA Training Advisor, August 10, 2006

Although many privacy officers have asked if having their facility's name show up on a patient's caller ID is a violation, it isn't unless the patient has asked you not to call that number, says Allen Killworth, Esq., attorney at Bricker & Eckler, LLP, in Columbus, OH.

The HIPAA regulations require covered entities to provide patients with the opportunity to request to be contacted by alternative means, ensuring confidential communications. As long as the request is reasonable, you should accommodate the patient's wishes. Address this provision within your facility's notice of privacy practices.

HHS has explained that "an individual who does not want his or her family members to know about a certain treatment may request that the provider communicate with the individual about that treatment at the individual's place of employment, by mail to a designated address, or by phone to a designated phone number."

It is reasonable for patients to request that you not call them at a certain telephone number that has caller identification, that you not leave voice messages, that you send mail to a post office box rather than to a residence, or that you send appointment reminders in a closed envelope rather than on a postcard. These confidential communication requests should be honored in all contacts with the patient including treatment, payment and billing, appointments, and healthcare operations.

To comply with this rule, check your notice of privacy practices to ensure that it explains how you will contact patients and that it gives them the chance to request an alternative means of communication. Killworth recommends that your explanation say something like the following:

We may contact you by telephone or mail to provide appointment or test results. You have the right to request to receive communications from us by alternative means or at alternative locations. For instance, if you wish for us to contact you at a specific address or telephone number, or if you wish for appointment reminders not to be left on voice mail, you should make this request known to us. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Once you provide a notice of privacy practices containing this or similar language, patients are responsible for letting you know that they would like to be contacted at an alternative phone number or by an alternative means, Killworth says. If, as in your question, a patient is concerned that your facility's name will show up on caller identification, the patient can request that you not call that telephone number or that you contact him or her by mail rather than by phone.

However, if patients do not request confidential communication after receiving your notice of privacy practices, you can call them at the number they have provided without fear of committing a HIPAA violation.

Editor's note: Adapted from "Caller ID does not violate patients' privacy," Briefings on HIPAA, August 2006.

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