NLU PA Program — Didactic Year Handbook
materials, unless authorized. Clinical-affiliate confidentiality requirements remain applicable throughout and after the student’s rotation.
23. Use of Patient Cases for Educational Purposes
Students may discuss clinical cases for legitimate educational purposes when the discussion occurs within an authorized educational environment, the information is limited to what is necessary, appropriate privacy protections are maintained, and the discussion complies with the clinical site’s requirements. Students shall use the minimum necessary identifying information and should use de-identified cases whenever possible.
24. Student Responsibility Following Graduation or Withdrawal
Confidentiality obligations do not end when a student completes a course or rotation, graduates, withdraws, transfers, leaves NLU, or ends an affiliation with a clinical site. Students remain responsible for protecting confidential information obtained during their educational experience.
25. Reporting a Privacy or Confidentiality Concern
Students must immediately report actual or suspected HIPAA violations, privacy breaches, unauthorized record access, lost or stolen patient information, misaddressed email, unauthorized photographs or recordings, social-media or text-message disclosures, lost devices containing protected information, or other confidentiality concerns to the appropriate clinical-site authority and/or the NLU PA Program Director, Director of Clinical Education, or designated University reporting office. A student who discovers a possible breach should report rather than conceal the event.
26. No Retaliation for Good-Faith Reporting
Students who report suspected privacy violations or other misconduct in good faith will be protected from retaliation consistent with applicable NLU policy. NLU’s Whistleblower Policy encourages students, faculty, and employees to report University-related misconduct and provides protection against reprisal for good-faith disclosures.
27. Investigation and Corrective Action
A suspected confidentiality violation may be reviewed by the appropriate combination of the PA Program Director, Director of Clinical Education, PA faculty, the Clinical Education Committee, the Student Evaluation and Progress Committee, NLU Student Affairs, NLU Information Technology/Security, NLU Privacy/Legal personnel, clinical-affiliate leadership, and/or other appropriate University officials. Depending on the circumstances, corrective actions may include counseling, remediation, additional HIPAA/privacy training, restriction of clinical or EHR access, professionalism intervention, removal from a clinical activity, referral to the Student Evaluation and Progress Committee, academic consequences, disciplinary action under NLU policy, and/or clinical-site action. Nothing in this policy limits consequences required by law, University policy, or a clinical-affiliate agreement.
28. Education and Training
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