We are in a debate in the office. Is it a criminal and/or civil offense to dispose of a patients name on paperwork that only has the patient's name and possibly the name of the facility but no other information like DOB, ACCOUNT #, etc.:confused:

I feel anything that has account numbers, names, just about anything that has patient data even without a name should be shredded?

Thanks,

Las Vegas, NV

Shread everything. It's a civil offense.

Yeah, in case of doubt shred it to be safe

I'm amazed that it's not office policy to routine shred everything so that if anything ever does get out the answer isn't, "Not possible, we shred everything."

The answer is YES. It is a HIPAA violation not to shred anything that has ANY patient info on it whatsoever. Names only included.

What if this patient was a No Publish? Meaning that they want no one to know that they are a patient, what their diagnosis is, and what their treatment is. If this info is not shredded, it is available to anyone who looks through the trash.

You are the winner in the debate.