Social Media, Texting, and Other Privacy and Security Issues:

Doing Your Part in an Age of Too Much Information

As April is AHIMA Privacy and Security Month, it’s a good time to take stock of some of the trends in maintaining the privacy and security of patient information as it becomes distributed in new ways.

Case in point: the increased use of mobile technology and social media by clinicians and other staff poses increased risks of breaches. What happens if a nurse texts a physician to clarify orders for a patient, but texts to the wrong number? Or an employee blogs about their day at work, revealing too much information about patients? How can you prevent or mitigate the damage of these types of breaches?

When Nancy Davis, MS, RHIA, director
of privacy/security officer at Ministry
Health Care based in Wisconsin and
Minnesota, develops policies related
to social media, mobile devices, or
even portable devices such as flash
drives, she strives for what she calls,
“realistic and reasonable guidance.”
“It’s unrealistic to think you
can full-out prohibit use of
social media or personal
electronic devices by staff,”
says Davis, who worked
with other leaders in her
organization to devise its
first social media and
blogs policy in 2009. “We
work with staff to develop
policies that are dynamic
—because everything
changes so quickly—and
that are reasonable
and realistic. And,
of course, you
develop ongoing
awareness and
education
programs.”
Health information technology and
electronic health records (EHRs) are
important tools in improving healthcare
quality, safety and efficiency. But to reach
these goals, there is a critical need to
balance the privacy and security of patient
information.

“As HIM professionals, we may struggle because there’s so much coming at us,” says AHIMA privacy and security practice council member LaVonne Wieland, RHIA, CHP, information privacy director at HealthEast Care System in St. Paul, MN.

“But we are very capable. We’re well-trained.

We’re the right people to be leading these
efforts in our organizations.”
Keep these trends in privacy and security on
your radar screen. continued on page 3