Dear AuntMinnie Member,
One of the unintended consequences of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is an increasingly complex process for recycling x-ray film. Imaging facilities can find themselves in violation of HIPAA’s patient-privacy provisions if their x-ray film recycler uses a recycling process that doesn't completely eliminate protected health information (PHI) from film.
Fortunately, there are ways to ensure that your film-recycling program complies with the law, according to an article we’re featuring this week in our X-Ray Digital Community. As a first step, each imaging facility should have a contract in place with its film recycler that includes provisions addressing HIPAA’s privacy rule.
But a HIPAA-friendly contract isn't enough. Radiology administrators need to educate themselves about their film service’s recycling practices to ensure that they meet HIPAA provisions, according to the article. For example, some older recycling technologies do not destroy dry laser films, which have become increasingly popular at imaging facilities. This means that protected health information could remain on such films.
Find out what else you need to look for in choosing a film-recycling program by going to the X-Ray Digital Community, at http://xray.auntminnie.com.
In other news, consolidation in the information technology sector advanced this week with PACS developer Merge eFilm’s proposed acquisition of RIS Logic, a maker of RIS software. Get the news first by clicking here.
