A nurse case manager must be vigilant in protecting the client's health information. Because the nursing office is in a cluster of offices that share a fax machine, which action by the nurse ensures that HIPAA requirements are met?

Question

1. Have the client sign a consent form for information to be released.
2. Have sending agencies call ahead before any information is sent.
3. Do not utilize the fax machine; depend on the mail system.
4. Take relevant information over the phone.

Answer 1

2. Have sending agencies call ahead before any information is sent.

Rationale:
Case manager nurses need to maintain vigilance to protect the privacy of client health care information when sending and receiving messages. In this case, having the sending agency call prior to faxing information would alert the nurse to collect the information from the fax machine at the time it is received, securing that information so others would not have access to it. Signing a consent form for information to be released is necessary to share information, but this would ensure only the disclosure aspect of HIPAA—not the privacy aspect. Sending information through the mail takes time and does not ensure the privacy of the information. Taking information over the phone must be done in a way that is protected and secured in order to ensure that HIPAA privacy aspects have not been breached.