Posted by on Apr 29, 2018 in Urgent Cares | No Comments

Protected health information is continually shared by doctors and other medical professionals in order to ensure safe and effective treatment. But it’s important that the information used within facilities is safeguarded against release to non-medical personnel. Our team at Advanced Urgent Care has experience in this area of the industry, and in our latest post, we’re highlighting our guide to handling protected health information.

Stay up to date on HIPAA

The HIPAA standards dictate what urgent care teams can and can’t do with patient information. It’s important that your care team has full information on these standards at all times. And make sure that a meeting is arranged with all care team members when changes to HIPAA are made.

No sharing of passwords

One mistake often seen in healthcare facilities is the sharing of passwords between personnel. This can lead to health information from one system making its way to an unsecured computer. Make sure that your team never shares passwords over email, text messages or any other form of written communication. A strict password policy such as the one used by our team at Advanced Urgent Care should be enforced.

Use encryption when sending information

When sending protected health information, ensure the information is encrypted from the sender. The data should only be available to those with the technology to decrypt, which would mean that only qualified medical personnel see the data and gain access to the information within sent files.

Use role-based security

Roles and permissions should be assigned to the team. For example, lower level IT staff members should not see the protected health information of patients. But doctors and others in charge of care of the patient should have immediate access after providing supported credentials. This role-based system helps eliminate the potential for information misuse throughout the facility.

Our trusted team at Advanced Urgent Care can offer a safe system for the protection of private health information. To learn more about the security protocols we have in place, call us today

 

Disclaimer:

Please note that our Urgent Care Facilities might not be able to treat all conditions similar to those described here and these patients are referred to a local emergency room if a high-level of care is required.”

 

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