HIPAA and the Control of Paper Documents

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 has been the subject an awful lot of study—and no small amount of confusion—regarding mandated privacy and security requirements. But if we look at the literature on what HIPAA is really asking hospitals to do, we see the bottom line: Patient protection. But how hospitals interpret that protection can lead to some very confusing and inefficient work practices. Take for example the issue of access to data. Patient data must be secure. It should only be viewed when it has relevance to patient care, and then, only by individuals who need access to that particular information. But creating a passworded system at the computer may, in fact, do nothing to secure data; so much as it creates another time-consuming step for caregivers who need access to data. Take the example of a nurse who must use multiple programs to obtain pertinent information on her patient. Conceivably, each database might require a separate access code or password. That’s not only inefficient, it doesn’t begin to address the issues of who is actually printing the data and who might see that data once it’s sitting in a printer tray.

At FormFast, we’re often asked, "Do you have a HIPAA compliant log?" We do. But that’s only part of the answer. We emphasize process—the whole process, in helping clients ensure HIPAA compliance. Contact FormFast for more information on how we can help your facility address the complexities of becoming HIPAA compliant.