Use and Disclosure of PHI - General Rule

Category: Privacy

Date: March 2003

Reviewed/Revised: April 2013

Policy

It is the policy of EVMS Medical Group to protect the privacy of individual patient health information. Because of this, the amount of information accessible in response to a request for information is limited to the minimum amount needed to perform a specific type of work or to complete a function.

Procedure

1. Define the reason for the use and/or disclosure of the individual patient health information. Reasons for using/disclosing individual patient health information include:
   1. For the provision of patient care
   2. For billing of patient care
   3. Healthcare operations
2. Access to individual healthcare information is limited to individuals who need the information to carry out their duties. Such individuals include but are not limited to the following:
   1. Physicians;
   2. Nurses and nursing personnel;
   3. Ancillary personnel to include Pharmacy, Laboratory/Radiology Services, Social Services;
   4. Billers, auditors, coders, transcriptionists.
3. Prior to using and/or disclosing individual healthcare information, the reasons for access should be determined. Reasons to provide individual healthcare information include:
   1. request of the patient;
   2. healthcare treatment, operations or billing;
   3. health care provider with an indirect relationship with the individual such as a laboratory or pharmacy.