BP in Practice

Privacy & Confidentiality Volume 17, No. 2 – February 2020

Partners in Privacy
ALLIED IN PATIENT PRIVACY
At Houston Methodist, the
patient is at the center of
everything we do, and that
includes safeguarding privacy
so that our patients feel
confident about sharing their
health information with us.
You hear about privacy from
Business Practices all the
time, but to protect HM and
its patients, we need partners
in privacy—which is where you
come in!

HANDS IN FOR PRIVACY

Safeguarding patient privacy requires a team effort from every HM employee, including you! Unfortunately,
human error occasionally happens, and the best way to protect patients when mistakes are made is for a
quick intervention and to call BP so that we can partner up. So throw your hand in for privacy and let us know
when you learn about an issue affecting confidentiality.

A TEAM APPROACH STARTS WITH COMMUNICATION

Wondering what you might need to tell BP about? Here are some common examples:
 A patient received paperwork belonging to someone else.
 Mail, email, or a fax was accidentally sent to the wrong person.
 Your Houston Methodist laptop, tablet, phone, or paperwork with patient information were lost or stolen.
 A patient tells you that he or she thinks privacy rights might have been violated.

LEARNING FROM OUR MISSTEPS

In most circumstances, privacy breaches are caused by simple human errors that any of us could make, and
by reporting your mistakes, you help BP to take quick action to protect our patients. Policy HR12 requires
education and re-training for the first mistake by the responsible employee, but it simply means going over
policies to avoid future missteps. The process can only make us stronger as a team, so don’t hesitate to
report a privacy incident!
Now That’s Living the Houston Methodist Values Through Business Practices!

BP EthicsLine: 800.500.0333 | tmhs.myethicsline.com

Prepared by the Houston Methodist Business Practices Office. For more information, please contact Dan
Pantera, Houston Methodist Business Practices Officer, at dpantera@houstonmethodist.org or 713.383.5177.
Archives are available on the Business Practices homepage. Review Policies IM06, HR12, and the Respecting
Health Information Privacy handbook. BP in Practice (excluding art) ©2020 Houston Methodist