Co-Workers Read My Medical Files

PeachyERNurse, BSN, RN · May 12, 2008

Wow! You complained and nothing was done? That's crazy! Sorry this happened to you. Don't you have a corporate integrity department or some other department that oversees the enforcement of HIPAA at your hospital? Maybe you could file a complaint with them.

MrsMommaRN · May 12, 2008

what?!!!! what your co workers did is inexcuseable. move up the ranks and pursue this. if one of us (read: nurses) did this to a patient or just looked up someone we knew because we were curious we'd be in trouble.

i'm sorry this happened to you. i hope things will work out for the best. :icon_hug::icon_hug:

HeartsOpenWide, RN · May 12, 2008

Each one of your co-workers that looked at your records is entitled to a $50,000 personal fine. I would contact legal agency...not only should your co-workers be cited, but your hospital for not doing anything about it and excusing the behavior:nono:

AlabamaBelle · May 12, 2008

I am totally appalled at this behavior. You should have a corporate compliance department, surely a legal department!

HIPPA regulations are very clear and very specific. These "co-workers" have no defence, no excuse. Federal laws have been violated as well as your rights to privacy.

Report, Report, Report. This is beyond intolerable.

We get occassional HIPPA awareness forms to fill out, reminding us of the laws and the consequences are very specific. We have had RNs (and one from an administrative position) terminated immediately due to HIPPA violations.

All else fails, I'm sure the media will listen (very last resort).

nursegreen · May 12, 2008

You need to make a formal complaint with HR. There is no excuse for what they did. It is a blatent violation of HIPPA and they should be terminated. :nono: I work at a very large hospital myself and it has been made very clear that unless you are providing direct patient care or your position requires you to have access (insurance, auth, etc.) then you will be terminated if it is found that you accessed someone elses medical records. You have a right to privacy and they do not have the right to your personal information unless you share it. The hospital I work for provides very good insurance with little cost to employee's. So, if we are admitted to another facilty or have a scheduled procedure than we have a copay of $500/day no max on days. If I use my facility I work at then my copay is zero. This is how the hospital keeps it's cost of insurance to employee's low. The facility does list employee's under an alias if requested for that purpose. My point in reference to how my insurance works, is you should not have to go to another facility because of their ignorance.

vernRN · May 12, 2008

I would report this HIPAA violation immediately to the appropriate authority. We do competencies every year, and knowing the HIPAA rules is a must! Clearly, in the rules, it states you cannot be accessing patient files(relative,neighbor, coworker) that you are not treating!

I am sorry to read about the situation you have encountered.

Curiosity killed the cat, and it should terminate the nosy co-workers.

colzanurse · May 12, 2008

I've heard of nursing supervisors warning the staff ahead of time that "so and so co-worker of yours will be admitted to this floor, and I will fire any unauthorized personnel who looks at their medical records."

Pursue this matter, these nosy co-workers need to be reprimanded, preferrably FIRED! Your rights were violated.

donsterRN, ASN, BSN · May 12, 2008

I gotta jump on this bandwagon!

At my clinical facility, we cannot even look up our own medical records. Whether you're being treated as an employee or as a patient makes absolutely no difference. Unauthorized access to medical records is a violation of HIPAA. There's no wiggle room. Whether or not your facility needs RN's and is reluctant to terminate them because of that is about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. The facility has bigger issues, like whether or not they will be be closed because of rampant violations of federal guidelines. Keeping their staff will be the least of their worries.

It's been posted numerouse times here: you cannot let this die. You have to make a formal report and follow through with it. There needs to be a paper trail. If your NM won't act, then his/her superior will have to, and if that person doesn't, then the next superior has to, and so on. If you have to take it to the CEO or anyone at that level, then so be it. Your rights, and exponentially the rights of every other employee at your facility, have been violated. Laws have been broken, and this is a big deal. Every orientation includes details on HIPAA and the violations thereof, and the penalties for doing so. Immediate termination of the offenders is generally the FIRST step in correcting the situation.

You really need to put your facility on notice that violations have occurred, they will not be tolerated and you are going to hold them accountable for their (in)activity as it relates to you.

Good luck.

RedSox33RN · May 12, 2008

Echoing everyone else's comments. And if my facility didn't take action against those employees, I'd also be seeking legal advice from an attorney. Your medical history is between you and your doctor and any other healthcare provider that needed access to it.......not was "curious". Unreal!

In my facility, it would be instant termination. The fact that they are understaffed is not your problem, and that shouldn't be an excuse for allowing that kind of behavior. We're not allowed to access pt records unless they are OUR pt. That's it, no exceptions.

elkpark · May 12, 2008

I agree strongly with what the other posters have said. This is serious business. You can contact the federal Office of Civil Rights to file a complaint -- here is the link on how to do it:

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacyhowtofile.htm

If it were me, I'd go to the OCR, since you've already complained to your facility and were dissatisfied with their response (I'd be sure to include that information in the complaint, BTW!!)

Anagray, BSN · May 12, 2008

I agree with others - it is a huge hippa violation, but also how incredibly rude and wrong to do something like that from ethical point of view!!! The disrespect is always very painful.

One of my co-workers almost got killed by a horse, I visited her in hospital and I didn't even ask why she was in isolation.

I really sympathize with you and i hope that you will get some relief from this terrible feeling of being violated. If you have th strength, definitely file a formal complaint like the others have suggested.

Best wishes:redbeathe

queenjean · May 12, 2008

I just wanted to echo the thoughts of PPs and encourage you to pursue this further. This should not be tolerated. I wonder, would the CEO of the hospital feel the same way if they looked at HIS medical record?

In our hospital, everyone goes out of their way to respect employees' privacy when it comes to the medical records. We are the only hospital in town; therefore, employees HAVE to come here for medical care, unless they want to drive 45 minutes in either direction--not so much during an emergency, you know? Also, our insurance is set up that if you get treated by a doc affiliated with the hospital, insurance covers more.

Anyhow, we all take a great effort to NOT look at another employee's chart and to NOT discuss the employee's condition with anyone but those who need to know. So it's not, like your manager said, that everyone is just curious. It's a culture. Obviously in your hospital's culture, it is acceptable. In mine it isn't. It takes a great deal of effort to change that, but if your managers and staff want to, they can.

Good luck. I'm so sorry that happened to you.