Almost everyone gets into healthcare for one reason: to help people. Whether it’s at a hospital as a provider or a corporate office as a Privacy Officer, the goal tends to lean towards helping those in need.  In the healthcare sector, what comes to mind when you think of Patient’s Rights? Hopefully you thought about the different rights patients have under HIPAA.  The right to Access records, Restrict Disclosure of records, amend records, confidential communication of records, disclosure of accounting of records, and right to file a HIPAA complaint. Your organization should have a process or practice in place on how to address each of these.

A patient comes in for an employer paid pre-employment drug screen. They sign the HIPAA form and proceed with the service. The next day the patient contacts the center and says they would like to revoke their authorization. What do you do? A recurring patient emails the hospital requesting an amendment to their medical record. What do you do? A patient calls the clinic and requests a copy of their medical records to be sent to them via email. What do you do? These requests can seem trivial and be dismissed as headaches but are central to trust with a patient and a compliant privacy program. It is another way we can help our patients. Whether as simple as a record request or as complicated as a revocation request, we are required to treat with importance and help our patients and organization through this process. Every one of these requests reflects a concern or vulnerability from a patient. So, your readiness and ability to humanize the process while respecting their rights is, in my opinion, supreme.

Treating patient requests seriously reinforces that privacy is not just a regulation, but a core value of your organization. As a Privacy Officer creating an environment that puts safeguarding patients’ information at its forefront also would mean safeguarding their rights as patients. Each request should be reviewed and handled timely with your organizations standardized practices. In my opinion, the more prepared you are to handle the easier it will be once these requests come in, and they will come in. Training your staff to recognize and correctly route or address these requests timely is critical. This will help reduce delays and frustrations for both staff and patients. Failure to address can lead to patient complaints and OCR involvement. Things we absolutely want to avoid.

When responding to these requests, doing so with compassion, especially when they can’t be granted, is important to establish and keep the patients trust and cooperation through the process. When a patient is told an amendment request is denied, this can be frustrating for the patient and understandable. Showing compassion while still providing the required determination, in my opinion, is best practices for the most desirable outcome for the patient and organization.

In my experience, patients want to be heard. They don’t want to feel like they are just a number in a EMR system. When a HIPAA complaint comes into my privacy office, the first thing I do is listen. When an amendment request comes in, the first thing I do is let the patient know we have received their request, and we are internally reviewing. I am letting them know they are heard. The rest is following the process in place. Remembering to be HIPAA compliant and care at the same time.

Responding to HIPAA complaints and amendment requests are given rights under HIPAA and you should put yourself in the shoes of the patient. How would you want to be treated if it was you requesting these same rights granted to all of us under HIPAA? We can’t lose sight of the reason why people get into healthcare, which is to help people. I recommend, building a privacy program that reinforces the importance of helping people. Be relatable, safeguard, and address these requests with care. Remembering the reason most get into healthcare is to help people. So, let’s help them one patient request at a time.

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