Did I violate HIPAA?

[nursing_student93]

I'm a junior nursing student. I was chatting with another nursing student on the med-surg unit and we wondered if it was possible to look up psychiatric patients (we are both interested in mental health nursing). So I went to the patient list of the psychiatric unit. I clicked on a patient, then a little warning popped up saying "if you access this chart, you might be audited etc etc". So of course, I pressed cancel and didn't go to the chart.

Obviously, after perusing this website, I would never do such a thing again -- I just wanted to learn about mental health nursing and our clinical instructor has had us look up pt's on other units in the past so I didn't think much of it. Never again...

Summary: I accessed the psychiatric unit patient list in the EMR while on a different unit. I did not go into any specific chart of a patient. I only saw the patient list. Is this a punishable action if I were to be "caught" by an auditor?

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

Psych patients are "protected" period...that means their names as well. You cannot tell a person who calls if they're there or not, or anything else in my state. If I were you I would tell my clinical instructor what you people did.

As a nursing student you have no business doing that without authorization. Please tell me how you accessed the computer without a password. This is just as much as your instructors fault as anyone, where was she/he while you guys were huddled around the computer...she/he will want to know; believe me...she/he is the one who is accountable.

Still wondering how you got computer access?

[ArtClassRN, ADN, RN]

I want to learn about my neighbors, so I just started walking through the neighborhood trying to see if there were any unlocked doors.

For cryin' out loud.

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

"Obviously, after perusing this website, I would never do such a thing again -- I just wanted to learn about mental health nursing and our clinical instructor has had us look up pt's on other units in the past so I didn't think much of it. Never again..."

If your instructor encourages students to randomly access other patients' charts, that's really over the line. psychiatry has had HIPAA like rules for decades due to stigma, and is even more stringent. But, even medical charts should not be accessed without a legitimate purpose. When you access a stranger's chart on some other floor, you are accessing their private and confidential information without consent. You appear to have learned from this. If in doubt...don't.

[nursing_student93]

Thanks guys. I definitely learned from it. It's been a couple of days now and no one has said anything so I'm guessing I won't be kicked out of clinical for it.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Think less about whether or not the result of this will be being "kicked out of clinical" and more about the larger picture.

You picked a doozy of a patient population for sampling. Many states have laws regarding the flow of information on patients undergoing psychiatric care which are far more restrictive than general interpretations/practices under HIPAA.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

What business did you have going into that area of the EMR? None. While you probably didn't violate HIPAA because you didn't actually get into someone's chart, IMO, you were knocking on the door of hotel violation. Keep out of where you don't belong and you won't have to lie awake at night pondering the burning question of "did I violate HIPAA"?

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

While in nursing school, at every clinical site, we, as students, were set up to be able to get into all areas of the computer system that we would need to be in. Including patient charts, Pyxis, lab areas, you name it. We all had usernames and passwords, just like a nurse employee. How else would a student be expected to chart, learn about the patient they are caring for, review labs, pass meds, etc. A student needs to have computer access at clinical sites.

Psych patients are "protected" period...that means their names as well. You cannot tell a person who calls if they're there or not, or anything else in my state. If I were you I would tell my clinical instructor what you people did.

As a nursing student you have no business doing that without authorization. Please tell me how you accessed the computer without a password. This is just as much as your instructors fault as anyone, where was she/he while you guys were huddled around the computer...she/he will want to know; believe me...she/he is the one who is accountable.

Still wondering how you got computer access?

[RescueNinjaKy]

From where I'm at it is considered a violation if you're not related to the case and you access their charts. Seeing as you didn't actually go in yet, I wouldn't worry about it. But for future reference don't do it again, you could get a write up for it. After all, if I heard beyonce was in the hospital and I looked her chart up, that is definitely a hipaa violation as you're not on the case. in education cases, if you are assigned to a unit then you can usually look at the charts of patients in the unit depending on the hospital policy but to look at other unit's patients is wrong. If you want more psych exposure save it for your psych rotation or talk to your clinical instructor and ask for her if she could include you on psych patients who are on the med surg floor.