For those of you new to healthcare or our patients, you should know that the incident in the link below is a serious breach of HIPAA. The health insurance portability and accountability act provides protection of personal information and health conditions or treatments. The hospital in this story will be hit with a large fine. The employees will also be fined and face jail time. One of the accused is a nurse. If they are found guilty, I hope their license is revoked for acting in bad faith and not being a patient advocate. Our personal feelings should not be involved as a healthcare provider, but they are, because we are human. However, in this case, the nurse is well aware this is a serious breach. They should have tried to stop the posting and immediately reported to the privacy officer about this HIPAA violation. A HIPAA violation is so serious that I attempt to immediately forget a patient’s name and case particulars so I won’t breach their privacy accidentally. This includes; talking at the nurses’ station, in the hall, on the elevator, in a crowded waiting room, over the phone to someone you cannot verify their identity, or in a patient’s room with people that do not have permission to hear or know about the patient’s illness and treatment. When I would admit patients, I asked how the person in the room was related, did we have permission to discuss their condition and information in front of them? This is particularly important in outpatient areas where patients are given sedation and released home the same day because the medications cause some amnesia. We want our patients to go home and be safe, healthy, and happy.
Woman Sues Hospital for Posting STD Results on Facebook | Healthy Living – Yahoo Shine.
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