Hippa laws can a drs office take a bill to your employer to give to you not sealed?
Question:
Answers:
I'm a dentist.
As I understand it, private health information that is readily accessible to and discoverable by thid parties not authorized to see it is considered a HIPAA violation.
For example, if I leave a patient's chart lying on my desk, readily accessible to cleaning crew, that is a HIPAA violation.
Now, giving a bill to a patient's co-worker might be different because it is (or at least should be) assumed that co-workers of the patient have an obligation to not read other peoples' mail.
Of course, if the bill was simply given as a straight piece of paper whose contents were in plain sight of anyone handling it, then I'd say it's a clear HIPAA violation. If the bill was folded and in order for someone to read its contents they had to unfold it, then it might not be a HIPAA violation because the co-worker was not supposed to unfold the document to begin with (assuming that this hypothetical co-worker knew for whom the document was intended prior to opening it). Generally, when you fold a document, you do it for the purpose of 1. fitting it in an envolope, or 2. hiding the contents. Obviously, for someone to unfold a document, they are making a deliberate effort to discover its contents. Finally, if the document was in an envelope, then as far as I'm concerned it's a pretty clear-cut case of a co-worker being nosy.
I'm no lawyer, but as a doctor I do have to follow HIPAA guidelines closely (or at least be aware of them) because violations can cost be costly.
Other Answers:
I don't believe that a doctors office should take a bill to the patients work place at all. However, HIPPA laws don't seem to specify. Since they were not disclosing the patients medical chart it might be okay to do that. However, I would assume that the envelope should be properly sealed so as to not disclose the type of treatment that the patient is getting billed for.
The HIPPA laws prohibit revealing a patient's information to anyone other than the patient - unless of course the patient has signed a form specifying to whom the information can be given. Since the statement was not in a sealed envelope, I would say that Yes, this is a violation of HIPPA regulations. I am not a lawyer.the best thing would be to contact either a lawyer or local HIPPA officer to address this situation.
Source(s):
Dental Assistant
yes yes yes
It absolutely does. HIPPA states that the dental or medical office cannot discuss or disclose any information pertaining to a patient to anyone other than the patient themself. This includes procedures, diagnosis, and billing.
Source(s):
Dental Assistant
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