Hipaa test

caliotter3 · Jan 13, 2008

At work, we were given the requirement to receive training and be tested on HIPAA. Our employer prepared a self study module with a 10 question test at the end. It was very basic. You will most likely be able to answer the questions using your common sense.

KrysyRN, BSN · Jan 13, 2008

I agree with caliotter...you probably don't need to study for it.

You could try googling HIPAA privacy laws though if you wanted to read up on the topic...

Some types of the questions you are likely to see are

1. A celebrity is hospitalized on your unit. Do you....

A. Alert all your friends

B. Keep quiet and avoid speaking to co-workers about the celebrity

unless you are all directly involved in care of the patient.

2. You receive a phone call from someone stating that they are the husband of

a patient on your unit. The husband wants to know the wife's test results.

Do you...

A. Tell him.

B. Tell him you are unable to give him information based on HIPAA laws.

good luck!!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 13, 2008

i would contact one of the instructors or dean of your nursing program and ask them how a student is supposed to prepare for this exam. it's a reasonable question to ask. we had to take a hipaa exam at my workplace, but prior to it, there was a little online inservice that we had to watch first. i'll bet there is something similar that you have to do as well. doesn't it seem unreasonable that they would require you to take a hipaa test and not give you any information on how to prepare for it?

when i was taking my initial health information management classes we were required to go online to the medicare (cms) website and complete a self-learning program that is posted there on hipaa. it happens that i copied and pasted the entire text of the program to a word document (19 pages of it) and just looked at it. unfortunately, it primarily concerns billing and handling of the medical record. basically hipaa is about patient confidentiality. i'm betting that if you look for "hipaa" or "confidentiality" in the index of your nursing textbook(s) you are going to find something on this subject. you can also get information directly from a public website that hipaa has. here is the web address for it: http://www.hipaa.org/. you can actually read the original hipaa act (it's not that long) on the site. the law started originally to protect the privacy during the transmittal of medical records. it has evolved into protection of the privacy of medical information of any kind. also try googling it to see what comes up.

MB37 · Jan 13, 2008

Yeah, we had to be HIPAA certified to start clinicals, but we just had to do little modules online and print out the certificate when we'd completed the "course." If they haven't given you any materials to study or told you where to find them, I wouldn't worry - you'll probably either take it online or have to watch a presentation or video or something. It's important information to know, because it's the law, but it's not difficult - bascially, don't talk about your patients in front of or to anyone not directly involved in their care.

Jules A, MSN · Jan 13, 2008

God Bless you all for getting it right! When I see people, especially on a nursing board write HIPPA it makes me want to light my hair on fire and go running into the street.

JentheHen · Jan 13, 2008

I appreciate all of these replies. Thanks, I feel better.