Confidentiality

Confidentiality means that your clients and your coworkers expect you to keep their personal information to yourself—and you expect the same from them.  You guard information about your clients ALL THE TIME, even in the privacy of your own home. 

HIPAA:  A law developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that gives clients more control over how their personal medical information is used and to whom it can be given.  

HITECH:  HITECH significantly increases the fines that may be issued for violations of the HIPAA rules and encourages quick and decisive action.

A few ways that confidentiality can be broken

• Talking in front of a client (especially if you think the client is asleep).
• Talking to co-workers who are not a part of a client’s health care team.
• Talking about one client to other clients.
• Talking to family members who do not have permission from the client to hear confidential information.
• Leaving electronic medical records unsecured.              
• Leaving a medical record visible in a public place (like on the front seat of your car).
• Throwing confidential information, like your notes from your shift, in a public trash can.
• Snooping through the medical records of clients to whom you are not assigned.

TIPS FOR MAINTAINING CONFIDENTIALITY

• Think of your clients’ medical information as something they own.  You wouldn’t take a client’s clothes and pass them around to other people.  So, don’t pass around a client’s private information, either.
• Be aware of who is around you whenever you speak about a client.  Remember that you are responsible for what you say, and that healthcare workers have been sued for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time!
• After viewing client information on a computer, don’t leave without logging off of the computer first.  Also, don’t share computer passwords or codes with anyone. 
• It is important for you to share confidential information with your supervisor if it involves a client’s health or well-being.  For example, if a client tells you that the right side of his body has gone numb, you do not keep that information secret!  Let your supervisor know right away.