Names on casts

Names on casts

Tyler Manee

4/5/2012

Hi list,

I'm curious how the list interprets HIPAA concerning our plaster casts.
HIPAA protects individually identifiable information like that patient's
name, birthday, and any information that relates to the past, present, or
future physical or mental health or condition of an individual.

My questions are A) is just the patient's last name (that's all we write on
our casts) considered an identifier or does the HIPAA verbiage refer to the
whole name, and B) could the shape of a patient's limb be considered
information about their physical condition. My feeling is basically 'come
on...that's obnoxious' and at my facility we consider breaking up the casts
to be sufficient, but I'm curious what the list thinks. Should names be
removed from the plaster before breaking up the cast, and if the shape of
the limb is considered information about the pt's physical condition, what
level of smashiness would acceptably de-identify the cast ?

Thanks,

Tyler Manee
Resident Orthotist