The employees at CMIS have to prove what they know each year.  A series of tests created by our management team tests employees on their understanding of different state laws, federal laws and HIPAA.  Employees working along the border of MN, ND and SD must understand laws in MN as well as the border states.  As easy as it might seem to be to press a button and make copies, the majority of the work in processing a request for medical information is in reading the request and authorization.  We must understand who can have records without an authorization, what would be the circumstances where we would accept a request without an authorization and what constitutes a valid authorization under HIPAA.

Patients have become more knowledgeable about HIPAA, authorizations, and getting copies of their medical information.  Patients will challenge the information in their records, ask us keep mental health, HIV and other information private.  Attorneys will ask for certified copies, records that include anything to do with the head, neck and shoulders, ask for billing statements, request physicians to answer questions pertaining to the patient, ask for single sided copies, or copies in a digital format  or copied onto a CD.  

We applaud the many employees who embrace this challenge everyday. Those who continue to work for CMIS show their dedication and understanding and the challenge of processing those requests everyday and understand the importance of their jobs and the impact they have on their community.