HIPAA notice of privacy practices used in U.S. dental schools: factors related to readability or lack thereof.

Full Abstract

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 requires Notices of Privacy Practices (NPP) in plain (clear, concise, and easily understood) language. The objectives of this study were to test the readability of U.S. dental school NPPs; examine factors relating to readability; and develop a plain language NPP supplement. Readability statistics were Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL). Social capital measures of potential resources available to people in a civil society (e.g., perceived trust, perceived reciprocity, and per capita voluntary organization membership) along with lawyers per capita for each state were examined for potential relationships with readability levels. One-sample t-tests assessed plain language (FRE=60, FKGL=8), and analyses of variance compared groups. Spearman rank correlations (r(s)) compared social capital to readability. A plain language NPP supplement was developed. All fifty-six U.S. dental school NPPs were obtained (100 percent response). Forty-eight of fifty-six schools (86 percent) had website NPPs. FRE and FKGL were significantly more complex than plain language, overall (both p<0.0001, 95% CIs:
FRE=37.6, 40.5; FKGL=11.2, 11.8) and by region (all p<0.014). Readability did not differ by region. Social capital measures moderately related to readability (0.18 < or = |r(s)| < or =0.39) with reciprocity being most related (FRE r(s)=0.36, FKGL r(s)=-0.39). U.S. dental school NPPs are more complex than "plain language."

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Ha, Anh T (AT); Gansky, Stuart A (SA);

Affiliation: Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California San Francisco, School of Dentistry, San Francisco, CA 94143-1361, USA.

Grants: U54 DE14251 (Agency:NIDCR NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Journal of dental education (J Dent Educ), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Mar; vol 71 (issue 3) : pp 419-29

Dates: Created 2007/03/28; Completed 2007/05/04; Revised 2007/12/03;

PMID: 17389576, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Comprehension
Confidentiality
Educational Status
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
Helping Behavior
Humans
Interpersonal Relations

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

Psychiatric employment evaluations and theHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. 30 Oct 2006
Obtaining medical records from healthcare facilities under the HIPAA Privacy Rule: the experience of a national longitudinal cohort study. 27 May 2007
Potential student abuse of technology in the clinical setting. 29 Jun 2007
Exploring the issue of confidentiality. 29 Jun 2007
HIPAA vs. law enforcement. A nurses' guide to managing conflicting responsibilities. 30 Jul 2007
Conversations in Ethics. 29 Sep 2007
Protective measures for private health information. 30 May 2007
Confidentiality in the age of HIPAA: a challenge for psychosomatic medicine. 28 Feb 2008
An architecture for privacy in a networked health information environment. 30 Dec 2007
Access anxiety: HIPAA and historical research. 2 Jan 2007

See 100+ related articles.