Q . Is it permissible to take pictures of patients (including behavioral health) for identification purposes as a part of the registration process? Do the patients need to sign a consent form before their picture can be taken?
Are you still struggling to comply with the new requirements of the HIPAA omnibus final rule? A new toolkit offers sample policies, forms, and checklists that can help.
Although it hasn't released many details yet, OCR plans to resume its audits to assess compliance with HIPAA privacy, security, and breach notification requirements in 2014. The government agency also plans to expand the audit focus to include business associates (BA).
Every healthcare organization should develop and implement a policy and a well-defined process that provides guidance for managing incident and breach response.
Q. Is it acceptable for admitting and patient registration staff to photograph patients upon check- in for identification purposes? Is it permissible to take pictures of behavioral health patients for the same purpose?
The healthcare industry is changing rapidly, and if you've been paying attention to the news you've probably noticed the recent wave of hospital mergers.
