Educate patients on HIPAA rights

Reproduced from [name of publication] © 2008 HCPro, Inc., 200 Hoods Lane, Marblehead, MA 01945. 781/639-1872. www.hcpro.com. Used with permission.

You can change your physician practice’s stance regarding patient education by bringing staff members on board with a plan and being creative with ideas that are relatively painless for them to embrace. Here are a few examples:

• Put a sign on the reception desk saying something similar to, “Do you know your privacy rights? Ask us and we’ll tell you!” Make sure you have plenty of copies of the notice of privacy practices available to give to patients.
• Put posters on the reception area wall and in the patient care area hallways, listing the actions your organization is taking to safeguard and protect PHI, such as:We Care About Your Privacy And Safeguard Your Personal Information!  We do this by:
  • Making sure no one has access to your personal information except those who need it to perform their jobs;
  • Following best practice security and privacy practices;
  • Complying with privacy laws such as HIPAA. “If you have a question about how we protect your information, please ask!

• Hang posters in patient care areas reminding staff members of privacy practices.
• Include blurbs about information security and privacy in the healthcare statements you send to patients.
• Put magazines about privacy and security in waiting rooms.