New law limits release of patient information

Patients at Bloomington Hospital will soon have greater privacy, as stricter regulations regarding access to patient information are being implemented. The hospital is updating its policies because of the revision of a federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.\nNew policies regarding the transmission of patient information to the media as well as within the hospital system will be effective by April 14.\nOne of the biggest changes is daily admissions and dismissals from the hospital will no longer be published in Bloomington's Herald-Times newspaper. \nHospital spokesperson Jonna Risher said this will be a big change for the community. \n"A lot of people depend on that and have come to use it as a channel of communication," Risher said. \nThe change will be effective March 1. \nRisher said with this change, Bloomington Hospital will be catching up with the policies of other hospitals of the same size, as the release of admissions and dismissals is no longer routine at most hospitals. \nThis is only one part of the increased privacy the HIPPA will offer. The law puts in place the first national standard regarding the privacy of hospital patients, said Robert Morr of the Indiana Hospital and Health Association. \n"Now there is a national minimum standard for privacy," Morr said. "In essence what it says to the patient is 'you are in charge of who can gain access to your personal medical information.'"\nAlong with increased privacy comes the end of health cases considered to be of "public record." In the past, the media could obtain specific information about high-profile individuals or those who were transported to the hospital via ambulance. This is no longer the case. \n"That person's health information is protected and it's not public information. That's a really big change," Risher said.\nThe new regulations give individuals the ultimate say over the information given out about them, Risher said.\n"It's all about patient privacy. Honestly, it's a good thing," Risher said. "When people are in a health crisis, they need to be concentrating on themselves rather than worried about who's going to find out." \nNow when a patient enters the Bloomington Hospital, he or she will be given a list of privacy regulations about 8 to 10 pages long, Risher said. The patient (or in some cases a family member) will choose what information they allow to be released, if any. \n"It will make the environment a little different for patients," Morr said. "The privacy notices will be as complex as those you would receive from the bank or the insurance company."\nThe new regulations will also come with a big price tag for Bloomington Hospital. \n"It's going to cost us about $1 million plus to make all the internal process changes," Risher said. \nThese include software and hardware updates. \n"It's a huge undertaking," Risher said. "We've always taken great pains to maintain confidentially at Bloomington Hospital, but there's always room for improvement."\nMorr points out that the new regulations may cause frustration on the part of media workers. \n"From the vantage point of friends (of patients) and the media, the flow of information will be minimal and it may be delayed," Morr said. "Media deadlines may come and go before information is obtained"