HIPPA/PHI violation?

[Silverman780]

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Question, for my senior project have been volunteering in a ER for a couple of months to gain exposure to the medical setting. For my write up If I write about experiences I have seen would that be in violation of HIPPA / PHI?

Example: Patient one, a boy, comes in soaked in blood with multiple lacerations on his face from a dog bite, I page triage and and we get him back into a room and help get him checked in. Three hours later and a head full of stitches he and his mother are out the door....

Thank you!

 

[TooMuchResearch]

As long as you don't use patient names or any other information that can be personally identifying (such as discussing a really rare case, but I'm sure there are ways around it).

I'm assuming that plenty of people move through that ER with dog bites, so it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Silverman780]

Thanks

 

[jmart]

INteresting because I am part of a volunteer program and I work as a tech in the ER and they just asked me to write about my experiences. ONe other thing you do is change some of the information about the person. So maybe you can pretend that it is a little girl who was bitten by the dog rather than a boy. It is hard because of course we want to talk about the intersting cases which seem to be pretty easy to identify if one looked into it.

 

[ChairmanMao]

No. As long as you do not mention specific aspects of the person such as his real name, the date that he came into the ER, or his medical record number it is not considered a HIPPA violation. I suggest that you check with the Office of HIPPA/privacy Compliance at your hospital if you're still not clear what exactly HIPPA means or what information it protects.

 

[RoadRunner17]

Do people ever actually read these HIPAA modules that they make you do when you start any kind of position that requires it?

 

[bozz]

I've seen residents taking pictures of patients. (didn't see this one though >> )One guy asked the patient's permission to take a picture of a patient with a tree branch stuck in him.

 

[LizzyM]

I've seen residents taking pictures of patients. (didn't see this one though >> )One guy asked the patient's permission to take a picture of a patient with a tree branch stuck in him.

Yes, you can take pictures of patients as long as you get their permission to use the pictures for teaching, in publications, etc. Many times the admission paperwork (that no one reads) has all those permissions built in.

 

[Jolie South]

Do people ever actually read these HIPAA modules that they make you do when you start any kind of position that requires it?

I think my school's module had a quiz, so yea I read.

 

[ACSurgeon]

I think my school's module had a quiz, so yea I read.

an open book by any chance?

 

[Jolie South]

an open book by any chance?

It wasn't hard. I just didn't want to be the idiot student that didn't pass.

 

[Quix]

HIPAA. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. And you're getting good advice about maintenance of confidentiality; just be *absolutely* sure that the information is generalized. It's amazing how little information is actually needed to put two and two together and identify particular patients.

 

[GoldShadow]

Do people ever actually read these HIPAA modules that they make you do when you start any kind of position that requires it?

Nope, I just skim it, at most. "Don't give away patient information". Done.

I know there's a lot more to it that might be relevant to providers, administrators and policy-makers, but I've never had to know any of that stuff for volunteer, internship or shadowing positions, so I can sum up what I need to know with that one sentence.

 

[silverhorse84]

Do people ever actually read these HIPAA modules that they make you do when you start any kind of position that requires it?

When I was hired as an EMT we had a week long academy where one afternoon was HIPAA. It was actually read to us (using powerpoints), so unless you slept (which wouldn't happen cuz you'd get caught) you were forced to read it 😉 Although, I'm sure ours was a shortened version of what you'd get as a physician 😳