Q&A: Posting on dry erase boards in patients' rooms

Q: I work in a skilled nursing facility and would like to post the level of assistance needed and precautions on a dry erase board in patients’ rooms for nursing assistant use. I am hoping this will help to increase the patients’ safety. Is this allowed?

A: Yes, this is permissible if you keep the information posted to the minimum necessary. The dry erase board should not contain any information about the patient’s diagnoses.

This falls under Incidental Uses and Disclosures (45 CFR 164.502[a][1][iii]), where customary and essential communications like dry erase boards are permissible so long as there are reasonable safeguards in place and minimum necessary standards have been implemented. Reasonable safeguards vary depending on the size of the covered entity and nature of its business. Minimum necessary standards reasonably must limit who has access to protected health information and under what conditions, based on job responsibilities.

Editor’s note: Mary D. Brandt, MBA, RHIA, CHE, CHPS, is a healthcare consultant specializing in healthcare regulatory compliance and operations improvement. She is also an advisory board member for BOH. This information does not constitute legal advice. Consult legal counsel for answers to specific privacy and security questions. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent HCPro or ACDIS. Email your HIPAA questions to Associate Editor Heidi Samuelson at hsamuelson@hcpro.com.