Should You Handle Medical Privacy for Psychiatric Care Differently?

Tue, Feb 2, 2010

Cool Tools

Question: Our facility is going to offer psychiatric services to certain residents with mental health issues or psychiatric diagnoses.These services will be provided by outside psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners, and will include individual counseling and group therapy. Do we need to have more HIPAA privacy safeguards related specifically to the psychiatric services? If so, what might they be?

Answer: As a first step, decide in consultation with the psychiatric professionals involved what records the facility will maintain, and what records only the psychiatric professional will maintain, advises Heather O. Berchem, an attorney with Murtha Cullina LLP, in New Haven, Conn. The distinction is important because the facility is responsible under HIPAA only for those records maintained by the facility. And the psychiatric professionals will be responsible for complying with HIPAA regarding records they maintain, she says.

Important …

If the facility will maintain any records of this…

Click here to login and get access to this article if you already receive the HIT News Wire
If you've already signed in and are still seeing this screen, click here to refresh the page.
HIT News Wire
Free registration required for full access to articles.
You will also receive
  • Free updates on the latest developments affecting healthcare IT.
  • Discounts on 3rd party offers.
Join now
You must have javascript enabled to use this form

No related posts.

Bookmark and Share
, , ,

Leave a Reply