Successful physician-patient relationships are built on privacy. The promise of confidentiality is essential for patients to feel they can be candid about issues related to their health.
An education module from the AMA explains that patients will only trust physicians with their personal information if they believe the physician will respect their privacy.
“Privacy and Confidentiality” is just one of the AMA GME Competency Education Program offerings, which include more than 50 courses that residents can access online through their residency program’s subscription, on their own schedules. The program also features six faculty development courses.
The AMA GME Competency Education Program delivers education to help institutions more easily meet Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education common program requirements. Modules cover five of the six domains—patient care, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and system-based practice—within the core competency requirements. The sixth requirement, medical knowledge, is one that is most commonly addressed during clinical education.
Among the program’s experts are several who contributed to the AMA’s Health Systems Science textbook, which draws insights from faculty at medical schools that are part of the Association’s ChangeMedEd initiative.
Current program subscribers have access to award-winning online education designed for residents on the go. It’s easy to use and saves time with simple tracking and reporting tools for administrators. Learn more.
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Understanding HIPAA and privacy
A patient’s privacy is violated when personal information is shared without their permission. This action violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and can have serious implications for the violating physician.
HIPAA relates to anyone who has access to protected health information, and the AMA module goes into detail about the five components of the accountability act.
There are also privacy and security aspects to HIPAA. The privacy component protects identifiable patient information that is spoken or recorded in any form, while the security aspect focuses on how electronic records are maintained and protected, as well as for how long they are kept.
Dive deeper:
- New AMA resource helps overstretched GME program directors
- Common HIPAA violations physicians should guard against
- 5 keys for safely sharing ethics consultation notes in the EHR
The module also explains when patient information can be shared, as well as the certain instances where it is accepted to divulge private information without consent. While these topics and intricacies of HIPAA are addressed, the course also makes clear that residents are not expected to become experts on all things privacy; there are already other professionals within hospitals or health systems who make that a primary responsibility.
Everyone in the medical field should know who in their facility is the right person to talk with when it comes to questions about privacy, be it a chief privacy officer or a representative from either the risk management department, compliance department or legal counsel.
Easy to track progress
Residency program directors have access to dashboards and reports that provide a view of progress at the program and institution levels. In addition, customizable reports make it easy to track learner performance and demonstrate compliance for accreditation.
The AMA GME Competency Education Program covers topics including well-being, QI and patient safety, residents as teachers, navigating health systems, health equity, professionalism and faculty development. Schedule a meeting to discuss your organization’s needs.
