30075 Greenfield Rd., Suite 100
Southfield, MI 48076
Phone: (248) 290-2940
Fax: (248) 290-2941
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July 2007 - Security of Patient Information
The new patient privacy act known as HIPPA (Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) was enacted to, among other
things, provide federal privacy standards to protect patients’
medical records and other health information. In addition to
ensuring the confidentially of the patient information, this Act also
calls on physicians offices to be more accountable in determining that
the patient is who they say they are and that the insurance information
is in fact their own.
The best way to determine that the patient and insurance information go
together is to ask for and copy the patient’s (or responsible
party’s) driver’s license and insurance cards. If the
insurance is in someone else’s name, a call or computer check
with the insurance company to verify eligibility is necessary. A
call or internet check should be made prior to each patient’s
visit as matter of routine to ensure that the insurance coverage is
still in effect.
When it comes to protecting the patient information, a
physician’s office is not required to obtain the patient’s
“consent” for uses and disclosures of protected health
information for treatment, payment or health care
operations. However, an “authorization” is
required for uses and disclosures not related to treatment, payment or
health care operations. It should also be noted that an
established “personal representative” is not to be granted
access to patient information based on a non-health care power of
attorney. The power of attorney must include decisions related to
health care in its scope to provide the representative access to
patient information.
At NMS, we suggest a yearly process be established in your
practice to update current copies of insurance cards, HIPPA
disclosure, consents and other critical, sensitive data. NMS can
facilitate establishment of this process via our Practice Readiness
Assessment Service.
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