Social Services

Discuss the following situations. Charlotte Prince, HIM Director at a small community hospital, has been given the responsibility for providing any accountings of disclosures requested by patients under the HIPAA Privacy Regulations, including information on required reporting. She first has to determine what items are required reporting under the laws and regulations of her state. She finds that the following items must be reported and determines what departments in her hospital are responsible for the reporting them as shown in the table below.

Item to be Reported

Births, fetal deaths

Deaths

Child or Elder Abuse

Notifiable Diseases

Statewide Cancer Registry

Trauma

Medical Examiners Cases

Responsible Hospital Department

Labor and Delivery

HIM Department

Social Services

Infectious Disease

Cancer Registry

Trauma Registry

Risk Management

Because these cases must be included in an accounting of disclosures under HIPAA, list two alternatives for meeting this requirement.

Research

Visit the local office or the state Office of Vital Records website. Explore the process of requesting copies of birth and death certificates. Summarize what you learned. Provide resources accessed (website address).