USA Health expands protection of medical records

The Office of HIPAA Compliance is changing to Maize Analytics for USA Health’s Patient Privacy Monitoring program.

“Maize is considered to be a leading provider of data governance solutions, which will provide USA Health a more robust and proactive monitoring program, ensuring the privacy and security of our patients’ medical records,” said Linda Hudson, M.P.A., USA Health chief compliance officer.

Patients trust USA Health as their healthcare provider and ensuring the privacy of their protected health information is an essential part of maintaining that trust, Hudson said. Protecting this information gives patients the confidence to share their most sensitive information and to seek care from USA Health.

The Maize system uses artificial intelligence to evaluate the appropriateness of access and actions involving a patient’s medical record.

Among the activities detected by Maize are:

• Accessing medical records outside the normal scope of business
• Detecting shared or compromised login credentials (usernames and passwords)

USA Health employees who access medical records should:

• Only access patient health information when there is a business need. This includes not accessing a family member’s record, a co-worker’s record, or any record in which the employee is not a part of the care team or performing a job-related duty.
• Only access the minimum necessary information to perform one’s job.

If you have concerns about the privacy of your personal medical record, contact the HIPAA Office at 251-445-9192 or hipaa@health.southalabama.edu, and ask to have an alert established on your record.