Situation 2: A nurse on duty calls her friend and notifies her that another victim involved in a crime spree that her sister was a victim of is an inpatient at her hospital. Again, unless that person has provided direct care to the patient or the patient gives their consent for the information to be released, the nurse is in violation of HIPAA. However, the author of this particular ms handled it well. At least she had the character divulge that she could get in "big trouble" if upper management found out what she'd done. Think back to Brittney Spears in part one of this series.
Situation 3: Small town high school mascot falls ill on the field during a football game and is rushed to the hospital. A paramedic takes him to the ER. When the paramedic's wife arrives, she inquires about his condition. The paramedic/husband tells her what the doctors found. Again, the wife is not providing direct medical care to the patient. This paramedic has violated the patient's HIPAA rights by divulging this information to his spouse. Now, I understand, in small towns-- this information may "leak out". A better way for the author to have handled this would have been to have the wife of the fallen mascot tell this woman what his diagnosis was. HIPAA doesn't apply to family members and they can willingly share information with who they wish. That may not make the patient very happy--- ahh... another area of conflict!
Have you seen HIPAA violations in works of fiction that you've read?
Yep, I see them all the time, along with a lot of other confidentiality violations. And they aren't that hard to write around. I also notice it a lot on TV, when it's the injured party's colleagues, not family, who are waiting for the news.
ReplyDeleteHow would you handle this? A popular church member collapses during a service and is rushed into emergency surgery. When the surgeon comes out to greet the family, another couple of dozen church members are there, too. Would he take the family to a different location?
BTW, are the HIPAA guidelines online? I never think about it because I have a couple dozen copies here in my office.
ReplyDeleteRamona,
ReplyDeleteYes, to be respectful and not violate the patient's privacy-- he should take the spouse to a private location and then allow her to share the information she chooses. This is best case scenario.
Or, he could say something like... "Is it okay that I discuss this in front of your friends or can I take you some place more private."
Here is a link I found for HIPAA that should use more common language: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html
Let me know if this helps.
Jordyn
Hi Jordyn,
ReplyDeleteThis would be a good review for my nursing students. As you know HIPAA is the stuff we breathe in hospitals.:) Great stuff here as always. In the hospital we have HIPAA and in the college we have FERPA, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
Hi Jordyn,
ReplyDeleteThis would be a good review for my nursing students. As you know HIPAA is the stuff we breathe in hospitals.:) Great stuff here as always. In the hospital we have HIPAA and in the college we have FERPA, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.