Health Information Compliance Alert
READER QUESTIONS:
IS INFORMATION ON WHITE BOARDS PROTECTED?
Published on Mon Jan 16, 2006 
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Question: Our clinical nursing and therapy staff would like to install white boards in semi-private patients' rooms to document patient needs. Is this allowable under HIPAA? Answer: "The Office for Civil Rights has made it clear that white boards are permissible," asserts attorney Kristen Rosati of Phoenix-based Coppersmith Gordon Schermer Owens & Nelson.
The Bottom Line: You have to take reasonable steps to reduce the amount of patient information that can be seen by visitors, Rosati counsels.
Most important: "If you believe [white boards] are the best way to provide important information for the care of the patient, you just need to document that process," she assures.
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