Professionalism/Customer Service in the Health Care Environment

1. Professionalism/Customer Service in the Health Care Environment Regulatory Issues: Standard Precautions and HIPAA Lecture a This material (Comp16 Unit 5) was developed by The University of Alabama at Birmingham, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number 1U24OC000023. This material was updated in 2016 by Bellevue College under Award Number 90WT0002. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

2. Regulatory Issues: HIPAA and Standard PrecautionsLearning Objectives • Characterize the importance of and guidelines associated with infection control. • Describe ways of protecting yourself and others by employing standard precautions. • Describe the implications of HIPAA on communication.

3. Infection Control • The goal of infection control is to prevent the spread of infection • From you to others • From others to you • The health care setting contains many potentially infectious agents. • Patients are particularly vulnerable to infection and will have more serious consequences.

4. Infection Control Continued • Infection contracted in the hospital—a health care–associated infection (HAI) • HAI Prevalence Survey Results • No reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) for the cost of caring for a patient with an HAI • HAIs: a quality measure for health care organizations Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016

5. Standard Precautions • Basic level of infection control precautions • Policies • Hand hygiene • Personal protective equipment (PPE) • Gloves • Facial protection • Gowns • Environment • Patient care equipment • Waste disposal World Health Organization, 2007

6. Standard Precautions: Hand Hygiene • Proper hand hygiene—most effective means of infection control in health care • Soap and water or alcohol-based gel • Done frequently—including before and after handling equipment from patient care areas

7. Standard Precautions: Hand Hygiene Continued • How to Use Soap and Water • Wet hands and apply soap. • Lather thoroughly all surfaces of your hands. • Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. • Rinse your hands well. • Dry hands using a clean towel. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015

8. Standard Precautions: Hand Hygiene Continued 2 • How to Use an Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizer • Apply the gel to the palm of one hand and wet surfaces of both hands. • Rub all surfaces of hands and fingers together until they are dry. • Do not wash hands after using an alcohol gel. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015

9. Standard Precautions Continued • All human blood/body fluids are to be treated as if they have blood-borne pathogens. • If it’s wet and came from a human, you should never touch it. • Call for a staff member to arrange cleanup • If you have an exposure, get help right away. • Tell the staff, and follow their directions.

10. HIPAA • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) • Signed into U.S. law in 1996 • A set of federal regulations • Requirements protect the privacy and security of health care information U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

11. Important Components of HIPAA • Privacy Rule protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information when shared by health care providers. • Protected health information (PHI) includes: • Names • Phone numbers • Email addresses • Social security numbers • Medical record numbers University of California at Berkeley, 2016

12. Important Components of HIPAA Continued • Privacy Rule protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information. • Security Rule sets national standards for the security of PHI for health care providers who share individually identifiable health information electronically. U.S. Department of Commerce, 2008

13. Important Components of HIPAA Continued 2 • Privacy Rule protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information. • Security Rule sets national standards for the security of electronic PHI. • Breaches of HIPAA must be reported to the individuals affected, to the Secretary of DHHS, and in some cases to the media. U.S. Department of Commerce, 2008

14. Important Components of HIPAA Continued 3 • HIPAA violations may result in civil and criminal penalties. • Individual and employer can both be penalized. • Privacy of patient data you encounter in your work should be protected.

15. HIPAA and Communication • Intent of HIPAA • To protect patient privacy • To allow patients some control over their medical information • NOT meant to interfere with communications that are required to provide medical care • Communication for payment or other health care operations not a violation of the privacy rule

16. Guidelines for Communication • Information you learn at the health care organization stays there.

17. Guidelines for Communication Continued • Information you learn at the hospital or clinic stays there. • Patient information in all forms, including electronic data and the spoken word, must be kept confidential.

18. Guidelines for Communication Continued 2 • Information you learn at the hospital or clinic stays there. • Patient information in all forms, including electronic data and the spoken word, must be kept confidential. • “Need to know”—Information about a patient is shared only with people who need that information in order to do their jobs.

19. Guidelines for Communication Continued 3 • Information you learn at the hospital or clinic stays there. • Patient information in all forms must be kept confidential, including electronic data and the spoken word. • “Need to know”—Information about a patient is shared only with people who need that information in order to do their jobs. • Be aware of what you are saying, who you are talking to, where you are, and who might be listening.

20. HIPAA Penalties • Be aware that in most organizations, inappropriately accessing patient data is an offense that will result in immediate termination from your job and possible criminal charges.

21. Regulatory Issues: HIPAA and Standard PrecautionsSummary • Follow infection control protocols. • Adhere to all regulations governing communication and sharing of patient information.

22. Regulatory Issues: HIPAA and Standard PrecautionsSummary Continued • Effective infection control • Helps you avoid getting infections from others • Helps others avoid getting infections from you • Protects vulnerable patients from getting infections and becoming even more ill • Protects the health care organization from risk

23. Regulatory Issues: HIPAA and Standard PrecautionsSummary Continued 2 • HIPAA has clear rules on the communication of patient data. • Be aware of your organization’s specific policies on HIPAA and your professional role. • Never share your computer password or access codes. • Log off when leaving your computer. • Remove patient identifiers from data that you are using to solve IT problems.

24. Regulatory Issues: HIPAA and Standard PrecautionsSummary Continued 3 • HIPAA is the law. • Violations can have severe consequences. • Consequences affect individuals and health care organizations. • Protect yourself and protect your organization by protecting patient privacy.

25. Regulatory Issues: HIPAA and Standard Precautions References – Lecture a References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Handwashing: Clean hands save lives. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/when-how-handwashing.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Healthcare-associated infections. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hai/surveillance/index.html Scholl, M., Stine, K., Hash, J., et al. (2008). An introductory resource guide for implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) security rule: Information security. Retrieved from http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-66-Rev1/SP-800-66-Revision1.pdf University of California at Berkeley. (2016). HIPAA PHI: List of 18 identifiers. Retrieved from http://cphs.berkeley.edu/hipaa/hipaa18.html U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid  Services (CMS). (2009) CMS manual system. Pub. 100-07 State Operations Provider Certification. Transmittal 55. Infection Control. Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Guidance/Transmittals/downloads/r55soma.pdf U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). (2016). HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Audit Program. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/compliance-enforcement/audit/index.html U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Summary of the HIPAA privacy rule (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/laws-regulations/ World Health Organization. (2007). Standard precautions in healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/EPR_AM2_E7.pdf

26. Regulatory Issues: HIPAA and Standard PrecautionsReferences – Lecture a Continued Images Slide 6: Microsoft clip art; Used with permission from Microsoft.

27. Professionalism/Customer Service in the Health Care EnvironmentRegulatory Issues: HIPAA and Standard PrecautionsLecture b This material was developed by The University of Alabama at Birmingham, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000023. This material was updated in 2016 by Bellevue College under Award Number 90WT0002.