Crime Case

I had a general understanding as to what HIPAA was from a job my husband had, but since I took the online training I learned more than what I was ever told about it. By doing the online HIPAA training I think it has made me more aware of the importance of privacy for patients and that if a person violates this privacy, serious consequences can occur. The training provided a lot of information and at times was overwhelming, but I see the importance of having anybody who enters into a profession that deals with patients records taking this training.

Learning the different ways that the privacy of patients can leak out, such as answering calls is important as well as knowing the restraint on the amount of information that can be released to a third party. There are accidental ways that a patient's information could get out to others, and that is usually through another person overhearing the patient and the professional talking in another room. These are not intentional transmissions of personal information and a professional would not be penalized for this.

Protecting a patient's privacy is something that a professional needs to be aware of daily and must exercise discretion when handling medical records with other parties involved.

After taking this training and learning the many ways that a patients records can be exposed, I noticed that many places I go to for my son's therapy are very cautious with records. For example, my son attends a therapy group and I noticed that there was a sign on the door saying "only staff personnel beyond this point." On another door there is a note saying "all patient files must be put back as soon as you are done with them. Do not leave them sitting out." I think that having these reminders for the staff at the agency is a good reminder tool to help prevent from having a client's information being released to the wrong person or looked over by another client who is in the waiting area. By having reminders such as these not only helps protects client information, but it also shows how the agency strives on the importance of patient privacy.

There is a lot of responsibility when handling patient records and the HIPAA rules apply to all healthcare personnel, including pharmacy technicians, which I did not know until taking the HIPAA online training.