HIPAA Countdown

Here’s a quiz to test your HIPAA* knowledge. Are you up to the challenge?

Question: A physician is examining a patient. The practice assistant knocks on the exam room door and tells the physician he/she has a call from a referring physician regarding another patient. What should the physician do?
A. Ask the practice assistant to transfer the call into the exam room.
B. Leave the exam room and take the call in a private area.
C. Ask the practice assistant the name of the patient about whom the referring physician is calling and to return to the exam room with the message from the referring physician.

Answer: B. The privacy rule covers oral as well as written and electronic communication. If the physician discussed the other patient in front of the patient he/she was examining, it would be a preventable and inappropriate disclosure and a violation of the Privacy Rule.

* Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, effective April 2003

More information on HIPAA: www.hipaadvisory.com/regs/