Tensions run high in medical facilities, especially when vulnerable information from a patient’s file gets leaked. Take the time to reassure and train your medical staff about the dangers of not following HIPAA guidelines. As you train new and current employees on HIPAA and patient privacy, review this essential insight into protecting patient privacy in a medical facility.
Train Your Staff on Adhering to Patient Privacy
Training is a crucial part of any job. Without proper instruction, a lot of safety violations can occur. Training needs to take place regularly to ensure every interaction with patients is safe and make it easier to build a positive relationship with them. Start by requiring administrators, nurses, and doctors to review HIPAA guidelines at every meeting and sign a waiver after everyone proves they understand how to adhere to patient privacy.
Make Security an Essential Part of Your Medical Practice
Security is crucial in the medical world. And it’s something to keep practicing and making a regular part of your medical practice. Many hospitals are finding ways to improve privacy between exam and in-patient rooms. The best way to develop a conducive environment for private conversations is to buy supplies that help create a better culture based on awareness and safety.
Hospitals have begun adopting mobile medical carts for this express purpose. In order for patients to feel safer, nurses are switching to mobile medical carts for inputting sensitive information to avoid HIPAA violations. Adopting tools like these helps improve workflow and enhances the trust between a patient and the medical facility.
Limit the Data Worker’s View by Creating Strict Access Points
Limiting the data worker’s view is another way to protect patient privacy in a medical facility. It’s crucial that every doctor, nurse, and staff member connected to a patient’s treatment plan does not allow anyone else to access it unless they have a specific role in the patient’s care. No one who is not part of a patient’s care team should have regular access to any client’s files, even if it pertains to routine bloodwork. Setting up strict access points helps workers understand their limitations on reading and handling patient files.
Keeping your staff accountable is essential to preventing HIPAA violations. You can work with your staff to create scenarios to roleplay with other teams so that everyone can learn what it takes to prevent sensitive patient information from falling into the wrong hands.
