What are the requirements for a physician to distribute a Notice of Privacy Practices to patients and seek an acknowledgement that each patient has received a copy?
A “direct treatment provider” (e.g., a primary care physician) must provide the Notice of Privacy Practices to each patient at the time of first service delivery. The direct treatment provider must make a good faith effort to obtain the patient’s written acknowledgement of receipt. A physician is temporarily relieved of the provision and acknowledgement requirements in emergency circumstances, but must provide the Notice as soon as reasonably practicable after the emergency situation. A physician is not required to obtain the patient’s written acknowledgement of receipt so long as the physician documents that he/she attempted to obtain such acknowledgement and why the acknowledgement was not obtained. If there is a physical service delivery site, the Notice must be posted in a clear and prominent location and copies of the Notice must be available for patients to take with them upon request. An “indirect treatment provider” (e.g., a pathologist or radiologist) is not required to distri
Related Questions
- What are the requirements for a physician to distribute a Notice of Privacy Practices to patients and seek an acknowledgement that each patient has received a copy?
- Where should documentation of patient receipt of our Notice of Privacy Practices go? Does it have to go into a patients medical record?
- May a physician obtain a consent instead of providing the Notice of Privacy Practices?
