One of the core values of the American Dental Hygiene Association's Code of Ethics is patient confidentiality and respect for human beings. Although privacy and confidentiality are separate concepts, protecting the privacy of a patient's information is essentially for confidentiality. Shoemaker and Gilson is in compliance with all HIPPA guidelines.
In order to ensure protection, we only access patient information that is required to perform the assigned job. This has commonly been referred to as "need to know" information. The HIPAA regulations refer to this as minimum necessary and the same concept holds true—only access patient information necessary to perform assigned job duties.
If you would like more information on the HIPAA laws go to http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/