HIPAA hoopla: privacy and security of identifiable health information.

The privacy and security provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are changing the standards for how identifiable health information is handled. This article explains HIPAA and how it interacts with the Family Educational Right to Privacy Act. The advent of HIPAA and the attention given to privacy and security of identifiable health information provides the opportunity for school nurses, school districts, and administrators to revisit and update how they handle student health information. Resources to assist in establishing policies, procedures, and practices that protect student and family health information are identified.

The facts about faxing.

The fax has a vital place in school health nursing practice. Using a facsimile machine can streamline medication communications, parental permissions, and doctor's orders. Nonetheless, there are confidentiality concerns and the potential for abuse. School health office practices for ethical and prudent use of fax technology are outlined.

The facts about e-mail.

The use of E-mail in the school setting has become a standard method of communication. E-mail can increase the efficiency of communicating with parents and students. Privacy and security considerations regarding the use of E-mail to transmit health information must be addressed. This article outlines regulations and the best practices for using E-mail in the school health office.

Power up your presentation with PowerPoint.

School nurses have the experience, insight, and passion to speak in pubic forums on issues regarding the health and education of children. They are seeking opportunities to inform district decision makers and the general public about student needs and about the importance of having adequate resources to meet these needs. Nurses may be called upon to speak both formally and informally to parent and community groups, the school board, and to their peers. To be credible and to communicate their messages effectively, nurses must hone their presentation and speaking skills, which may include the use of up-to-date technology.

Criteria for software evaluation: legal issues.

The maintenance of electronic health records in the school setting requires knowledge of the legal standards of both electronic records and health records. School nurses are responsible for the selection of software and hardware that meet federal and state legal standards. Software capabilities that enhance the legal value of the student health record are: overwrite protection, multi-user passwords, multi-level access, auditability, rejection, automatic back-up, and the ability to enter and process dates for the year 2000.

Create a virtual community: start an Internet discussion list.

Internet discussion lists are valuable tools for sharing resources, creating professional relationships, and remaining current in a specialty. Despite the proliferation of health-related lists, there are still school nurse subspecialties and associations that would benefit from professional mailing lists. The process of starting a list is simple and quick. The effort required to manage a list is well worth the benefits of creating a virtual professional school nurse community.

Legal issues: office management practices.

Student health records, whether paper or electronic, are restricted and protected to a greater degree than are educational records. Some school health office software is designed to provide greater data protection than is possible in paper records. However, unless basic district and health office practices are established to prevent access to or corruption of electronic health data, technological safeguards will be useless. This article describes school and health office policies and practices that are necessary for the integrity, confidentiality, and security of student health information.

Online continuing education.

Nurses looking for learning opportunities often have to travel many miles to find content that applies to their specialty area. The World Wide Web has continuing education offerings with content relevant to school nurse practice and the care of children in the community. The Web allows the convenience of taking courses at the student's choice of time, place, and pace.

School health services and managed care: a unique partnership for child health.

The inevitable merging of the world of managed care and school health services, particularly nursing services, will allow both to benefit from the resulting collaboration. The inclusion of the school nurse in the continuum of health care delivery promotes effective, timely, accessible, cost-effective services for children. Managed care offers an opportunity to bring to prominence the role of the school nurse and to increase school-based health services. School health services staff must begin credentialing, data gathering, and quality improvement activities prior to entering negotiations with managed care organizations. Success of this partnership could result in improved access to health care for millions of underserved school-aged children, greater attention to preventive services, and an optimal setting for health promotion activities leading to improved health for all children.

School nurse web authoring.

Many school nurses are now surfing the World Wide Web for clinical and professional information. The Web is also a tool for providing professional services and delivering nursing care. Three applications for school nursing are featured: using the Web for professional publishing, a state association web page, and a school nurse office website.

Electronic communication. Part III.

This is the concluding article of a three-part series on electronic communication for school nurses. The October 1994 column described electronic communication and the hardware and software required. The December 1994 column examined e-mail, bulletin boards, databases, and file transfers. This column will list many health and nursing resources available on-line. Some of the resources are available only through the Internet. Others are accessible by more than one route: dial-in, telnet, gopher, or world wide web. A few of the services, such as MEDLINE, are only accessed with purchased accounts (Glowniak & Bushway, 1994). The electronic resources of interest to school nurses are so numerous it would be impossible to cite all of them in a column of this length. Selected resources for the school health provider will be listed in alphabetical order.

Electronic communication. Part II.

This article is Part 2 of a three-part series on electronic communication for school nurses. The October 1994 column provided an introduction to electronic communication, the linking of computers to exchange information. The hardware and software required for this medium were described. This column will examine the primary uses of electronic communication: e-mail, bulletin boards, databases, and file transfers.

Electronic communication.

This article is Part 1 of a three-part series on electronic communication for school nurses. In this issue, we will discuss the definition of electronic communication and the hardware and software needed to access electronic resources.