Role of the Nurse Practitioner

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I'd like to have an opinion from all the Nurse Practitioners on this site. I recently had a mammogram done at a mobile unit that was in my town and affiliated with a large medical facility located approximately 150 miles from my home. I had received the order from my own physician just 2 days prior. Ten days later I received a letter from the facility that both owned the mobile mammography and employed the physician who read the results. I was informed that my results had been sent to a Nurse Practitioner who was at the site the day of the mammography, and that they were not to my own physician. They informed me that the NP had had written an order for my mammogram and they did not feel they had created a breach of confidentiality by sending my results to her. I finally tracked down the NP and asked why she had written the order and she said she had done so at the request of the facility because my order was outdated. She also does not feel she has created a breach by having my medical records and my confidential information sent to the facility where she works. As a nurse in this community for more than 30 years, I have been very selective about the providers I have frequented and to whom my medical information has been available. My thought is that I did not authorize the NP to access my medical record to write the order, and by doing so she did in fact create a breach that allowed others to access to my medical and personal information. All thoughts and comments are welcome. Thank you.

Trauma Columnist

traumaRUs, MSN, APRN

88 Articles; 21,249 Posts

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I guess I just don't think this is a breach. When I have an outdated order from one of my MDs in my practice, yes, I do routinely rewrite it w/o any issue.

In your case, if you contracted for this service, by presenting yourself at their facility, then again, I just don't see an issue.

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