Nursing

Case scenario: Stay compliant with HIPAA

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, December 9, 2005

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You are called to work in a patient's room. You knock on the door and are invited in. You see that a doctor is in the room discussing the patient's medicine.

What should you do?

If you must do the job right away to properly care for the patient, ask whether you can interrupt. If the job can wait, explain that you will return. This protects patients' privacy by letting them openly talk about their condition without being overheard.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule does not say that you must stay out of the room to avoid overhearing conversations. But remember that patients may not feel comfortable sharing everything about their symptoms or medical history while you are in the room. They also might be embarrassed to ask you to leave.

Some doctors might even forget that you should not be in the room while they are talking about treatment with patients.

Editor's note: The above excerpt is from the online course, "CCHMC HIPAA Training for Beginners." For more information on this and other courses in our library, go to www.hcprofessor.com.



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