It’s Your Call – July 2024

HIPAA: Do surveillance cameras breach HIPAA regulations?

Since HIPAA mandates the confidentiality of protected health information (PHI), installing video cameras can result in a violation if they are not placed correctly or used appropriately.

Infection Control: What is the difference between universal, standard, and transmission-based precautions in preventing the spread of infection?

Universal precautions are procedures to protect against blood-borne disease transmission. These assume that all blood, and any body fluids that might be contaminated with blood, is infectious.

Standard precautions expand the concept of universal precautions beyond exposure to blood to include body secretions, excretions, nonintact skin, and mucous membranes. Standard precautions are designed to protect the healthcare worker and patients from pathogens.

Transmission-based precautions are additional measures used to prevent the spread of infections that are transmitted through airborne, droplet, or contact transmission (example, wearing an N-95 respirator to protect against tuberculosis or COVID-19).