This document discusses the importance of mandatory training for healthcare employees on protecting patient privacy and adhering to HIPAA regulations. It mentions tools used to store patient information like computers, phone conversations, and paper charts. The document states that healthcare professionals must follow laws and policies regarding privacy by properly securing and disposing of patient information. Employees will undergo accountability measures like mystery shoppers and quality scoring to ensure privacy standards are being followed for patient confidentiality.

1. Improving Confidentiality within our Healthcare FacilityMandatory Training for all EmployeesVital for continued employment!

2. We are here to protect and care for our patients.We must adhere to all HIPPA regulations for all patients with all the tools we use to store their information. This includes; Computers

3. Phone conversations

4. Paper charts

5. The shredding of any documents containing patient informationAccording to the US Department of Health & Human Services…“The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“Privacy Rule”) establishes, for the first time, a set of national standards for the protection of certain health information. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued the Privacy Rule to implement the requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information—called “protected health information” by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule — called “covered entities,” as well as standards for individuals' privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used. Within HHS, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has responsibility for implementing and enforcing the Privacy Rule with respect to voluntary compliance activities and civil money penalties(www.hhs.gov).”

6. We often need to be reminded of what we need to be doing.It is our job as health care professionals to ensure that we are following the law and the policies in regards to privacy in our facility. I would like to challenge everyone in each department to come up with an accountability measure that we will be utilizing so that we can all be accountable for one another and each standard will be used. Once a month we will have quality scoring with rewards if we meet up to our standards, we will be having “mystery shoppers” in each department going around to implement that computers are being locked when leaving, papers with information are being properly discarded and so forth. It is a team effort and we will be accountable for each other. “

7. Final Thoughtsin closing…