What is one practice to avoid in oral communications within healthcare environments?

Using full names in public areas is an important practice to follow to maintain patient confidentiality and comply with HIPAA regulations. When patient names are openly discussed in environments where others may overhear, it risks breaching the privacy rights of the patient. Public areas are not secure settings for sharing protected health information (PHI), as they do not provide the necessary confidentiality. Therefore, using full names in these settings can lead to unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information.

In contrast, practices like discussing patient information in private spaces and keeping conversations professional aim to protect patient privacy and ensure that information is shared responsibly. Using abbreviations may be a risk if they are not universally understood, but in a secure, controlled environment, it can sometimes be acceptable.