Doctors: Do you know what's in your trash?
According to an article today in the Greenwich Post (found here), a box full of paperwork containing patient information, including names and contact information, was found in a dumpster outside of a medical office building. Not only that, the good citizen who found the box decided the most appropriate course of action was to turn it over to the Greenwich Post! The HIPAA privacy rules may not be making the headlines they did a few years ago, but they are very much still in effect. Failing to abide by the rules when it comes to the disclosure of protected health information can result in substantial fines, so don't forget to revisit you HIPAA compliance policy from time to time.
