Legal

Protected Health Information (PHI)

Policy:

EHCS maintains written policies and procedures for securing and releasing confidential and Protected Healthcare Information (PHI) and Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI). PHI includes cell, telephone, verbal, and faxed information.

Procedure:

A Notice of Privacy Practices policy is given to every new customer with his/her initial shipment.

Protected Health Information shall be sent to the customer. If the customer is unable to communicate, then it will be sent to an authorized family member.

Any EHCS employee has access to a customer’s hard copy and/or electronic record to be used for business purposes only. All EHCS employees are required to sign a confidentiality/privacy statement.

Actual written documents – i.e., certificates of medical necessity, signed authorization of benefits forms, etc. – may be dispensed to a customer upon receipt of a written request to any EHCS employee.

In the absence of a signed assignment of benefits form when handling the account of a new customer, verbal confirmation with the physician’s office is obtained prior to the customer’s first shipment.

Customer files will be kept confidential at all times and kept in the file cabinets whenever possible. If a file must remain on your desk, make sure that the file is kept closed until required work is being done.

Any paperwork that needs to be discarded and that contains customer protected health information is to be shredded at the end of each business day. The shredder is located in the area where the copy machine and business forms are located.