Did a nurse just violate hipaa?

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Specializes in ER.

Is it a hipaa violation if a nurse provides a xerox copy of an ekg done from the emergency dept. to a patients spouse, noting that all patient identifiers were removed?

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Specializes in Cardiac, ER.

HHHmmm,....was the pt with the spouse at the emergency dept?

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Specializes in ER.

Well yeah the patient was admitted and the spouse was at the station requesting the ekg from the ed so he could have his cardiologist take a look at it, again all pt identifiers were blacked out on the copy.

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I am not sure HIPPA, however the hospitals I have worked at had a policy...all records to be provided after discharge upon request of the patient from medical records. You might want to check the facillity policy and procedure also.

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Specializes in ER.

I see, thanks.. Does any else have any input?

I would assume without any pt info that it wouldntb be of any violation.

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Why? You can look up hipaa violations as well as the rest of us.

Are you looking for validation from this website for a witch hunt?

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Specializes in Cardiac, ER.

I agree with the earlier poster,...most hospitals have a policy against this,.however,...without pt identifiers the cardiologist probably won't even look at it,..a wast of paper to make someone happy,....:)

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Specializes in ER.

Thats a little too much research and im sure id benefit from it but i posted a new thread to get some input from other nurses who dont mind sharing their opinions or knowledge of this particular situation.

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Specializes in ER.

i like the way you think rncardiac

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Why? You can look up hipaa violations as well as the rest of us.

Are you looking for validation from this website for a witch hunt?

But the HIPAA law is so vaguely specific that sometimes we all need a little clarification. Your comment seems a little on the mean-spirited side...is there a reason for that?

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

It is a violation of HIPAA unless the patient signed the ok to share paperwork.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Why? You can look up hipaa violations as well as the rest of us.

Are you looking for validation from this website for a witch hunt?

But the HIPAA law is so vaguely specific that sometimes we all need a little clarification. Your comment seems a little on the mean-spirited side...is there a reason for that?

I agree with cotjockey; we post here because many issues in nursing are vague, so, we bounce things off of each other to gain further insights.

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