The System In Action

Here we'll illustrate three situations – three Patients with different privacy needs - and show you how the HIPAAeasy system saves time and ensures that your Practice complies with any special Communications or Disclosure requirements from a Patient.

Patient A (no special restrictions)

	1) Patient A receives the Notice of Privacy Practices.
	2) Patient A signs the Acknowledgement of Receipt, which is then placed in his chart.
	3) Patient A makes no request for special restrictions on Disclosure or Communication of Protected Health Information (PHI). A green chart label is place on the folder.
	4) When the staff accesses the chart at a later date, the green chart label informs them at a glance that the patient has already received the Notice and signed the Acknowledgement of Receipt. No time is wasted searching through the chart for this information. NEXT

Patient B (requests special Communications restrictions)

	1) Patient B receives the Notice of Privacy Practices
	2) Patient B signs the Acknowledgement of Receipt.
	3) Patient B requests that restrictions be placed on Communications of PHI. He's given the appropriate HIPAAeasy Administrative Support Form with which to submit this request.
	4) Patient B reads through the instructional information on the form and then completes the form. By including instructional infomration on the form for both the patient and the staff HIPAAeasy saves your staff precious time when questions arise.
	5) The Practice agrees to the Communication restriction. The restriction is noted in the Communication restrictions section on the back of the Acknowledgement of Receipt and placed in the patient's chart. (Note: If the Patient requests a Disclosure restriction, there is also a section on the back of the Acknowledgement of Receipt for that information.)
	6) A Red Chart Label is placed over the edge of the patient chart so that it is visible from both sides.
	7) When the staff accesses the chart at a later date, the red chart label alerts them at a glance that special restrictions are in force. Since it's visible from both sides it can't be missed.
	8) Alerted that special restrictions are in force, the staff member finds the Acknowledgement of Receipt in the chart, learns that Patient B has special Communications in place. The Practice can now comply with these special restrictions.
Even the newest members of the staff can be trained in a few minutes to know that the red label on the patient's chart folder is there to alert them to find the Acknowledgement of Receipt in the chart and ascertain which restrictions are in place. The instructions on the back of the Acknowledgement of Receipt are stated very clearly. NEXT

Patient C (refuses to sign Acknowledgement of Receipt)

	1) Patient C receives the Notice of Privacy Practices
	2) Patient C refuses to sign the Acknowledgement of Receipt.
	3) Staff Member locates Documentation Of Inability To Obtain Receipt Acknowledgement Signature on Acknowledgement of Receipt
	4) The Staff Member checks the top box to indicate that signature was not obtained, and in this case checks the box that indicates the Patient refused to sign with no stated reasons.
	5) The Staff Member dates and signs the form. Witness signs form.
	6) This form also makes it easy to document the other reasons that a signature was unobtainable, including * A communication barrier (for instance, an elderly patient in a nursing home who has suffered a stroke) * Patient was not present (as when medical services are delivered remotely) * A Parent or Responsible Party was not Present * An emergency situation arose
The AR form itself documents these situations, as HIPAA requires, and guides the staff as to what follow-up actions need to be taken in each of the above circumstances. The HIPAAeasy Advantage The non-routine special situation can be documented with ease on the everyday AR form. No special form is needed.