HIPAA Reminder

In light of an incident yesterday, where patient information was found in the volunteer locker room, it is necessary to remind everyone of the hospital confidentiality policy. According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) not only can you not talk about patients to others, you must be extra careful to shred all documents containing patient information.

When you write down which patients you are going to see, be sure not to leave the list in your smock pocket or in your locker. There are big gray "Shred-It" boxes with a slit that you can slip in the paper to be shredded. You can find these boxes by the copy machines on the unit in the report room. There is also one located in the volunteer department waiting area.

In addition, remember not to mention patient names in public places of the hospital (the elevator or the hallway).


Thank you!