This is a Home Health Agency. I have heard that a nurse was carrying in a lot of loose papers and a gust of wind came up and blew numerous notes and patient plan of cares all over the place. Someonme found one of these and turned them in. They were fined nearly $20,000.00. Can the Administrator lose her license if she is aware the nurse is taking charts home?

There is no problem taking them home, many many doctors, nurses and more work from home.

The violation was not properly taking care of the papers. Why were they not in a case or properly secured

So what if she leaves the charts in her car and someone reads the name off the charts? What if someone broke into her car/home and stole the charts? I do understand about working from home. But even when I worked from home, I had a designated office space with locking doors and a locking filing cabinets to protect all pts privacy. I am just very worried some freak thing could happen and I am liable being the administrator. Maybe I am just being over paranoid, but I have to check. Thanks

What does your agency's HIPAA officer have to say? Your examples are all things that could happen, yes. It does possible a possible security risk. Where I work we cannot take patient information home, even to complete charting. It is done in the office, before we go home. Or come in later to do that.

Is your home health care agency affiliated with a hospital or clinic or state or federal entity? If so, find that compliance officer and ask.

You have a good question.

There is a website from the US Dept of Human Services, even a contact section.
http://www.cms.gov/

So the answer is to not people take charts home OR to code your charts so they don't include personal info. If you need to give the people who take work home an encrypted electronic file that translates patient codes.

The key here is as long as due diligence is exercised, HIPAA is not going fine an agency for an accident.