Lawndale Christian Health Center
Information Systems Manual
Confidentiality of Patient Information
Effective Date
/ May 2004 /Policy Number
/ 3.3Review Date / May 2004 / Authorization / COO/CFO
Lawndale Christian Health Center (LCHC) employees must respect patient confidentiality, as required by Federal law and by LCHC policy. All patient-related information created or processed on the LCHC computer network is subject to the same policies, procedures and regulations that govern the use of information in hard-copy format.
In addition, there are several important requirements for client information sent electronically, as set out by the Federal government.
All information sent that contains Patient Health Information must be meet HIPAA electronic encryption requirements and sent only to authorized agencies or providers who have met the same HIPAA security requirements. If you have any doubts as to whether someone is authorized to read it, you may not send the information to that person.
You may not allow any person not authorized by LCHC to see patient information. This applies to other patients, contractors doing maintenance work, visitors, or anyone else who are not authorized. (This applies to printed information as well as information on a computer screen).
All PC Workstations that are in within public view must have a privacy screen installed.
All PC Workstations that are in within public view must have a screensaver timeout of one minute.
Even if you work with patient information, the IS department of LCHC may block your electronic access to information about a patient, which has been deemed by your supervisor to be irrelevant to your job functions. If you believe you need the information for your work, you may discuss the matter with your supervisor. The IS department of LCHC will follow the decision of your supervisor.