Hi, and welcome back to the Light Keepers Podcast.
I'm Clayton Vandiver, your Light Keeper, and
we're bringing this episode to you from the middle
of the Pacific Ocean in the 50th state, Hawaii.
We're here all week to bring you some interesting
information and some more great topics to get
you thinking about living life a little better.
Quality of life is what this show is all about.
So stay with us. for some interesting topics
and some fantastic scenery in Hawaii on the Light
Keepers Podcast. So once again, welcome back
to the Light Keepers podcast. I'm Clayton Vandiver,
your Light Keeper. Today, our topic is HIPAA.
And again, we're in the middle of the Pacific
Ocean. Just because we're out here, we didn't
want to leave you without content. So we're recording
a show. We want to make sure that we have fresh
information for you, no matter where we are on
the planet. And it's sort of a fun backdrop to
have old... 1400 miles of Pacific Ocean before
you find the next land. We've been to Hawaii,
the most isolated place on the globe, which has
2400 miles from the California coast, 4000 miles
from the Japanese coast. It is literally in the
middle of the most isolated patch on the planet
Earth. So that's kind of an interesting thing.
It has ensured that the culture, the beautiful
culture, the beautiful people and the beautiful
scenery is intact for the most part right there
in hawaii it's a wonderful place to visit and
today we bring you the light keepers podcast
about hipaa my first question uh charlene our
licensed clinical social worker what is hipaa
hipaa stands for the health insurance portability
and accountability act and Basically, what that
means is that your personal health information
is now protected by law. That information cannot
be disclosed without your authorization and consent.
Okay. What sort of information is that? So that
pertains specifically to personal health information,
which you'll hear referred to frequently as PHI.
PHI. You'll hear that in doctor's offices, written
material, PHI, PHI, PHI. PHI is personal health
information. Talk about PHI, they're talking
about personal health information. Correct. That's
the data that specifically HIPAA is concerned
with. Correct. So HIPAA focuses on any information
that can be tracked back to a specific individual.
For example, someone's name, date of birth, address,
phone number, medical records, prescriptions.
Things like that. If it can be tracked back to
a specific individual, it is HIPAA protected.
So if it identifies that individual in any way,
pretty much. Correct. Then that's protected and
that's HIPAA. Well, when does HIPAA take effect?
So HIPAA takes effect the moment you are recognized
as a living individual. Oh, okay. So from birth.
So all people are protected by HIPAA. All people
are protected. And it does not end. Just because
someone dies does not mean their HIPAA protection
has gone away. A former employer, the department
I worked in, we used to receive thank you cards
from family members. And there was a member of
the team that would always put them out on display
at the nurse's station and then would get aggravated
when I would come behind them and take them down.
Well, the challenge was because a lot of these
cards were signed. by the family first and last
name, it was a violation of their HIPAA to have
those cards out in public. Of course, because
then that first and last name, any other guest,
any other visitor to the facility. Correct. Exactly.
And so in order to protect that HIPAA information,
I would take the cards down. Sometimes I would
white out the last name or I would tape over
the last name if it was possible. That way, you
know, we could still display the card, but that
person was given their privacy. Just out of curiosity,
at a facility like that, does the security guard
at the front desk, are they allowed to tell just
anybody that walks in, hey, is so -and -so here?
no absolutely not so if they're not allowed to
then why would cards with their name being displayed
on them exactly appropriate to be in exactly
standard standard protocol at the front desk
is you had to know the name of the person that
you were visiting and you could not ask as such
and such here because the standard response is
i can neither confirm nor deny that that individual
is here well then To the layman like myself,
that sounds like a double standard. I'm not criticizing
any particular facility, but if you're going
to keep someone's HIPAA rights protected at one
gate, you would have to, by law, I would assume,
keep them protected throughout the facility.
Well, and the thing is, is that's the whole point
of this podcast, because there is so much ignorance
out there. about HIPAA information, what is protected,
what isn't protected, where it's protected. There
are a lot of opportunities for both facilities,
personnel, and individuals to better protect
their privacy. Exactly. And see, and the thing
is, is, you know, a lot of medical professionals
don't have a clear understanding of HIPAA. And
if the medical professionals don't have a clear
understanding... How can we possibly expect the
common individual to have that understanding?
Or for the facilities to develop policies and
protocols that are appropriate and do protect
HIPAA. Now, is HIPAA actually, does anyone come
around and check to see that HIPAA is being observed
in these facilities? So there are policies and
protocol in place. There are HIPAA policies.
So I know, for example, as a medical professional,
I am required. to take a compliance course each
and every year to certify that I am aware of
HIPAA, I'm aware of the regulations, and I know
how to protect that personal information. Is
that specific to social workers? No. To licensed
clinical social workers? No, that is applicable
to anyone that works. So most medical personnel
would have to take that sort of information?
Absolutely, absolutely. Does that include doctors?
Yes. Doctors, nurses, case managers, social workers,
HIPAA protection. Protecting someone's HIPAA
information is the responsibility of everyone
in the facility. Absolutely, all the time. Absolutely.
And even family members, because we're going
to be talking in an upcoming podcast about privacy.
And your expectation of it, especially when you're
in a facility, a medical environment, where you
might not have as much privacy or you might inadvertently
be revealing some information that HIPAA would
otherwise protect and how you can safeguard it.
But that's coming up. We don't have time for
that in today's. We've got to wrap this up shortly.
And that is something that we do need to talk
about because, again, there is so much ignorance
out there about it. A lot of people's HIPAA -protected
information, their HIPAA protection is violated
every day, and they don't even know it. And there
are dangers associated with that that we're going
to talk about in the future. We're going to talk
about more later. But those dangers include,
we all know there's a lot of data breach. We
worry about people stealing our data online and
large masses of data from financial institutions
that sometimes is compromised. Well, that happens
in the medical community as well. Correct. It's
called medical identity theft. And in 2022, there
were over 27 ,000 reported cases in 2022 alone.
We're going to talk more about that in an upcoming
episode and very, very shortly. I believe it
might be in our next episode. We'll get into
that. So stay tuned. Stay with us. Lots of good
information that we bring you each and every
week. right here on the Light Keepers Podcast.
The Light Keepers Podcast is an exclusive production
of a Guiding Light Incorporated, a 501c3 nonprofit
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know it. For right now, I'm Clayton Vandiver
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I'm your
light keeper. We'll see you next time.