January 7, 2004

For immediate release

PATIENT PRIVACY IMPORTANT TO NORTHERN ITASCA HEALTH CARE CENTER
Hospital in Bigfork uses $10,000 grant to ensure patient privacy

BIGFORK, MINN. - Patient privacy has been enhanced through a $10,000 grant awarded to Northern Itasca Health Care Center, Bigfork.

“The Health Care Center has always been careful with patient records,” said Dan Odegaard, CEO. “However, this grant has allowed our staff to receive more training in the proper use of personal medical information. Patients also need to know and feel comfortable with how their information is used, and this grant has enabled the hospital to make this information available to all new patients.”

The grant, received from the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Rural Health & Primary Care on Nov. 25, 2003 has been used to meet the privacy rules which were developed by the federal government to meet the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Those rules set guidelines for how medical information which can be linked to an individual can be used, and a patient’s rights with respect to his medical records. In general, a patient’s rights include the right to inspect, amend and restrict use of information, the right to know who has accessed the records and the right to complain of improper use.

Although implementation of the rules has meant that there is more administrative work for the staff and more releases for the patient to sign, hospital Privacy Officer Denise Steinberg, RHIA, CCS feels that it is worth it. “We are serious about privacy,” she explained. “It is very important in smaller communities like ours to have the proper procedures in place so that patients can feel that their privacy is protected while medical staff still has access to the information they need to ensure quality care.”

Northern Itasca Health Care Center is a community hospital located in Bigfork, Minn. offering fully staffed inpatient, outpatient and emergency care to northern Itasca, western Beltrami and Koochiching counties. The Health Care Center also provides clinics for on site specialist care and services for seniors including apartment living, a nursing home based on the Eden model, home care and day stay. For more information, call the hospital at (218) 743-3177.