Can someone from another department come in

Question

say if i work in the pharmacy and someone from admitting comes in to visit "friends" in the work area where patient documents are in the open is that a hipaa law violation

Answer 1

Very well could be. The violation is the pharmacy's though, not the visitor's. It is the pharmacy's responsibility to protect its patients' private health information.

Answer 2

No.  It is not a violation of the law to simply be in the same room as records.  Pharmacies, however, are supposed to be secure for other reasons.

Answer 3

Sorry, but yes it is a HIPAA violation. Any time a patient confidential files are left where another member of the public can see them, it's a violation. Look at these articles http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/... ,http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-... http://www.pharmacy.vcu.edu/sub/exper/do... page 18.