Unit 6

I have been in medical field for a long time and I have seen several changes through healthcare, especially involving patient care. Before when you could place the patient's name right on the door and speak at length with the family in the hallway to now where you only place a number on the door and there is a place designated for doctor's to talk to families on each floor. Most of the changes are for a good reason. Know I have been to the doctor numerous times but I decided since I work at a doctor's office I would like to evaluate the way we set patients up. At first we provide physical security for the patients in the form of a security guard during the working hours at the office. This provides some comfort to the patients when they arrive in the early morning hours or in the late evening hours. Also we have security cameras on site that are monitored so that the building and the people can be protected. In the main check in area we have separated check in counters and dividers in place so that people cannot shoulder surf and see any private information. There is also a waiting area with a line that keeps the people separate from those who are checking in and some music playing so conversations can be over heard. After the patient checks in then the proceed to the department or floor where their doctor is located. The other floors where the department and offices are located all have keypad locked doors so that no unauthorized access can be obtained by non medical staff. For example the area that I work in we have locked entry doors and the patients rooms are only access under strict control. Since our area is so locked down we tend to over look some of the other flaws (which I will discuss later). Another security policy that we have in place to make sure that all of our computers screens lock and go to screen saver after a min or two of no use. This helps to keep any one from accessing a computer to get patient information. Some other ideas that we do is that we pull the curtains in the patients rooms and all the doors close so that know one knows who in the rooms but the staff. Instead of using patients name each patient is assigned a number which helps us to identity who they are, without compromising any information. Also our patient rooms are actual rooms and not curtain dividers so that doctors can talk to the family and patient without worrying about who is listening. This process works great for our doctor's office but there are some flaws in the system. The main area where patients check in is a high traffic area and basically everyone has to come through that area to get to the stairs or elevated. Main times the waiting line can be crowd so people just walk where ever to get to the elevates. This can be prevented by having the security guard help with the flow of patients and advert them a different direction away from the check in lines. Also doctors meet out there in passing and talk about patients, cases, and other medical business, this can be changed by having the doctors use a different door that is closer to the parking lot and keep them from talking in the main waiting area. Another issues is that during working hours our area is staff and watched but our work time is over at two thirty pm an the building hours end at seven pm. This can create an issue because the patients rooms even though they have doors there are no physical locks on each door. So someone could gain access to our department by going through the patients room. This can be fixed by simply adding a lock to the door. Another problem is that every patient is assigned a number we still place the last name on a board so we can monitor the flow of patients in the department. This is a violation because the is a name in plain sight. This can be fixed by using the number assigned to the patient or simply by moving the board away from any patient areas. Overall we are very aware of patient privacy and want our patients to be protected at all times and I think we do do a good job at this. Our doctors office does provide patients with the proper privacy that is deemed by the HIPAA. Is there room for improvement of course. In a perfect world with an unlimited budget we could provide a separate waiting area and check in area this way at no time will anyone be able to get information from the check in side of the process. Also using assigned numbers and not names this way if the information does fall into the wrong hands they cannot connect the name with a number and the information is then useless to the person who took it or overheard it. The final thought or idea is to make sure that all communication via text, email, fax, and any other electronic way is properly encrypted. This does not just included our servers but it means the doctor's phones, iPads, laptops, and any other device we or they use to send, check, or look at patient information. Having a proper security policy in place that covers electronic devices and information is one of the single most important step in protecting patient information. Allowing the doctors to use company established VPN's only to access patients medical records from home is the best way to keep information secure if viewed from outside the office. Also the device has to be scanned before connecting so that not intruder can hack into the home or mobile system then compromise the companies network. HIPAA has given us some good guidelines to follow to keep our patient's information secure. It takes a little more time and effort but in the long run it is the best procedure to keep the data controlled and secure.