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HIPAA Privacy and District Confidentiality Laws

Sets out how the Agency protects patients’ health information under the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the District’s stricter laws, including the privacy official, the Notice of Privacy Practices and its acknowledgment, when information may be shared with family and others, the Mental Health Information Act, patients’ privacy rights, business associates, complaints, sanctions and documentation.

Preview: full text with a package
About this policy
Policy number
DC-HSP-PRV-01
Version
1.0
Main rule
45 CFR §164.500 et seq.
Library
Washington, DC hospice · 60 policies
Category
Privacy
Sections
20

In short

  • Share patient information only with people who need it for care, billing or the law.
  • Give the Notice of Privacy Practices at the first visit and ask the patient to sign the receipt.
  • Check the record before you talk with family or callers about a patient.
  • Mental health information has extra protection in the District. Ask the privacy official before releasing it.
  • Never text patient details from your own phone or post about patients online.
  • Tell the privacy official at once about any privacy problem.

What's inside

20 sections. The full text comes with the One-time Policy Pack.

Full text with a package
  • Terms of Reference
  • 1. Purpose
  • 2. Scope
  • 3. Definitions
  • 4. Policy Statement (45 CFR §164.500 et seq.)
  • 5. Notice of Privacy Practices
  • 6. Using and Sharing Health Information
  • 7. District Laws That Give More Protection
  • 8. Patients’ Privacy Rights
  • 9. Everyday Privacy in the Home and the Office
  • 10. Business Associates
  • 11. Complaints, Non-Retaliation, Sanctions and Mitigation
  • 12. Documentation
  • 13. Responsibilities
  • 14. Records and Compliance Monitoring
  • 15. Staff Training
  • 16. References
  • 17. Related Policies and Forms
  • 18. Approval
  • 19. Revision History

An inspector may ask

  • Who is your privacy official? How would a patient complain about a privacy problem?
  • Show me this patient’s signed acknowledgment of your Notice of Privacy Practices, or the record of your good-faith effort to get one.

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