Sound bites – New HIPAA rules may force changes at offices

HIPAA rules may force changes at offices
As the reality of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act sinks in, some health-care providers and human resource specialists are realizing that newer rules regarding patient confidentiality may cost them in the form of an office-remodeling project.
As Small Business Times reported in the Oct. 26 issue, the compliance for the privacy rules under HIPAA will cost approximately $17.6 billion over its first 10 years. The rules are far-reaching and primarily affect health-care organizations, insurance companies, human resources departments and IT operations. The compliance rules concern limiting individuals’ private information from being misused.
While much of the law is concerned with the electronic transmission of data, it also concerns limiting the amount of information overheard in doctors’ offices, clinics and the like, motivating some Milwaukee-area businesses to review their office set-ups. In some cases, changes are necessary.
At Children’s Medical Group, director of office operations Lynn Kuehn is making changes now, even though the privacy rules aren’t fully implemented until April 14, 2003. The group has 15 locations around the greater Milwaukee area.
“Children’s has a lot of open front-desk areas, and although they are very warm and inviting to the patients, they really do let a whole lot of sound fly,” Kuehn said. “That’s what we’ve been doing lately — glass enclosures and remodels that close them up somewhat to limit how the sound travels around the medical office.
“For example, patients start to leave the exam room and the physician follows them out,” Kuehn explains. “And they continue to chat — and it’s very logical for them to carry on the conversation — all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘Geez, I wish I hadn’t said that in the hallway.”
Anyone handling medical information in an office must ensure that the information can’t be heard or viewed outside of his or her workstation, prompting some companies to raise the height of cubicle walls or change office configurations, according to Creative Business Interiors, a West Allis-based firm that is working with Children’s Medical Group to bring its offices into compliance.
Dec. 21, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee