HIPAA and the Community of Kiowa County
March 21, 2003
Most of us who live in the community of Kiowa County take pride in being rural Westerners. Our roots in this county are deep, with great-grandparents or grandparents who were homesteaders before 1920. Some families are more recent arrivals, but we all share the "be a good neighbor" philosophy. We help each other at branding time or crop harvest time. We have community-wide wedding showers and baby showers and sometimes a shivaree. We have community dinners, rodeos and dances to raise money to help our neighbors who are having trouble with illness or other problems.
Rural communities have been criticized for "everybody knows everything about others in the community." However, being aware of the needs of others is basic to the "be a good neighbor" philosophy.
This is the "Age of Information," where one click can send data around the globe instantly via our satellite communication systems. This potential for sharing information can often be a blessing, but it also has the potential to harm us. In order to protect our privacy, especially in the area of health care, a Federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed in 1996, to be implemented in all 50 states by April 14, 2003.
All of your neighbors who are a part of the Kiowa County Health Care System: the Hospital, the Nursing Home, the Clinics, the Home Health Care Agency, the Public Health Nurse, the Ambulance Service and the Kiowa Healthmart Pharmacy, have been working hard to respond to this law. Although we have always tried to carefully preserve the privacy of persons receiving care from us, and simultaneously nurture the spirit of "being a good neighbor" in our community, we will be implementing a more structured system of information sharing, effective April 1, 2003. Using the new structure is important as the HIPAA law has severe penalties for inappropriate information sharing.
So, what is this new structure?
First, anyone who receives any service from our health care system will be asked if they want anyone other than the health care provider to know their information. If they choose "no information" to be given out, even family members will not be given any information about them.
If they choose "information available," under the new structure, information will be carefully restricted to provide privacy. Only their name, "Cathryn Anderson" and a one-word condition statement such as: undetermined, good, fair, serious, or critical may be released. Information about a death can only be given after relatives/next-of-kin or legal representatives have been notified and have given their permission for the community to know.
Second, anyone asking for information must inquire using the person’s name, as in "is Cathryn Anderson a patient at the Hospital?", not "is the car accident victim a patient at the hospital?" Members of the clergy will still be able to ask if any members of their congregation are currently in the hospital or nursing home; "Are there any members of the United Methodist Church who would like a visit from me? I am Tom Dudley from the Cheraw United Methodist Church." However, at the time of admission or receiving health care services, the individual may say "no information to anyone, including clergy."
Finally, for each health care agency in our community, there will be an official information source. For the hospital and nursing home, the Admissions Office, the person’s physician, or the charge nurse for the patient care unit are the only authorized information sources. Please be a "good neighbor" and NO NOT ask any other people working at the hospital/nursing home system for information about anyone receiving care at the facility, because by HIPAA rules they are very limited in the information they can provide.
The bottom line is" We will still be able to take care of our neighbors and respond when they need us; "feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick." However, we will also have a functional system in place that protects the privacy of each one of us, as needed.