Last night, I got into a disagreement with my best buddy's D-I-Ls. They wanted to use copies of the armbands of deceased patients, and display them publicly, as evidence against a hospital's wrongdoing. The copies were obtained by someone in their group who worked in medical records at the wrongdoing hospital.
I strongly encouraged them to familiarize themselves with HIPAA and explained it was a legal act to protect patients' confidentiality. One of the young ladies wryly said to me, "Get out of the system!"
I explained to her that I will bend the rules- even break the law- if it is the means to a greater end. I said that they would be shooting themselves in the foot if they used this information in their quest. The focus would not be on the wrongdoings of the hospital, but their wrongdoings in stealing patient information and breaching patient confidentiality.
The other D-I-L argued patient confidentiality didn't apply because the people were dead, I disagreed and again strongly encouraged them to gather more data before entering into this endeavor with great temerity.
The two held fast to their beliefs, so I gave them an ultimatum: Either they gain more knowledge before acting, come clean with their actions, or I would report them to the proper authorities.
