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June 30, 2008

HIPAA Laws

I have pulled my posts concerning my PT clinicals at a local hospital because of privacy issues surrounding HIPAA laws. My university has contracts with the clinics where the clinics do internships. If I want to blog about any of the patient's that I see there, I need to get permission from that hospital and the hospital then needs to get permission from the patients that I see.

Not getting that permission means that I, the hospital and the school could incur huge fines and/or legal arbitration. Not only that, it could mean delays or prevention of me getting my physical therapy license once I finish school. Rather than take the risk of hurting myself or those institutions, I will not be blogging about patient cases.

Even though I have taken out all personal information, even concerning the gender of the patient, that may not be enough to protect that individual's privacy. Someone may be able to read, put together the pieces of the puzzle, and identified someone that I mentioned by chance, and I'm not willing to take that risk.

However, I do plan to continue to compare the things I'm learning in PT school to the practice of massage and the care of clients. I also plan to identify health conditions that I'm learning about in school that massage therapists may encounter in their practice. I plan to continue comparing and contrasting types of care that physical therapists and massage therapists can perform with patient/clients. And finally, I will continue to share any health related news or tips for general good health and wellness.

tags: massage massagetherapy wellness massage therapy bodywork health

Posted by linda at June 30, 2008 11:23 AM