1. My patients like to email me with questions about their condition. How does HIPAA affect my ability to communicate with them by email? Do I have to keep an accounting of these disclosures?
2. How do I know which standards apply: the federal HIPAA regulations, or state laws? For some issues, my state has really strict protections, but for others, there is no protection at all.
3. Is it true that each member of my staff will have to be trained on privacy practices? Do I need to send them to a particular training program, or can we develop our own program?
4. I heard that I will have to develop privacy policies for my medical practice. My staff already know that patient information is confidential. What other policies do I need?
5. The regulations require health care providers to keep an accounting of disclosures for six years and to allow patients to have a copy of that accounting on request. On the compliance date in April 2003, will patients be able to request an accounting of disclosures for the previous six years (i.e., since 1997)?
6. The regulations require health care providers to keep an accounting of disclosures for six years and to allow patients to have a copy of that accounting on request. Should providers be keeping track of disclosures now?
7. HIPAA requires health care providers to "account" for disclosures of protected health information. Does this mean that providers have to document each time I access a chart?
8. To provide "Notice of Privacy Practices", can a health care provider just post a sign on the wall in the waiting room?
9. What qualifications should a privacy official have?
10. Is each department of a clinic required to have its own privacy official?
11. I am an individual health care practitioner, but I share an office with several other medical practices. Can we share a privacy official?
12. HIPAA requires every health care practice to have a "Privacy Official." Does this mean that every health care practice must have an employee whose only responsibility is privacy?
13. My practice has paper medical records; are we still covered by HIPAA?