HIPAA and talking about patients

Spotty44 · Mar 18, 2009

is it illegal to talk about patients on blogger/livejournal? you don't use their name or any personal info.. u just use their diagnosis and s/s..

I don't think so, as long as you're not using any personally identifiable information (including characteristics that may indicate who it is). However, as a general rule, I just avoid talking about patients in any form anywhere on the internet...even if there's no identifiable information. You never know who is reading.

Burnt Out, ASN, RN · Mar 18, 2009

I don't think so, as long as you're not using any personally identifiable information (including characteristics that may indicate who it is). However, as a general rule, I just avoid talking about patients in any form anywhere on the internet...even if there's no identifiable information. You never know who is reading.

I agree. You just never know who else is reading what you put out there.

RN1982 · Mar 18, 2009

I think you would actually need to name names for it to be a HIPAA violation. That's my feeling.

LilyBlue · Mar 18, 2009

You have to give some identifiable information for it to be a violation - like name, address, etc. But that also includes any information that could make it easy to guess who you are talking about. For instance, if you were caring for Obama's family, even if you didn't use his name or title, but said something to the effect of "the patient started to feel bad while aboard Airforce 1" that could get you into trouble.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Mar 18, 2009

You have to give some identifiable information for it to be a violation - like name, address, etc. But that also includes any information that could make it easy to guess who you are talking about. For instance, if you were caring for Obama's family, even if you didn't use his name or title, but said something to the effect of "the patient started to feel bad while aboard Airforce 1" that could get you into trouble.

That was funny! :bow: :chuckle Yes, no specifics! Heck, we do it here everyday, and I have no idea who is taking care of who in this forum.

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2009

I think you would actually need to name names for it to be a HIPAA violation. That's my feeling.

Discussing Dx, S/Sx is not a HIPAA violation....no matter if someone reads it on the internet.

One exception: If your patient is the only person on the planet with said Diagnosis.

Then yeah, then that would be an identifying factor.

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2009

"The following is a work of fiction. Any relations to any persons, living or dead; is purely coincidental".

How about "Name, age and other information have been altered to protect the person's identity and privacy".

So, to give you an example:

"I took care of a pt. last week who came in complaining of generalized fatigue. Pt. c/o SoB but had a known Hx of asthma and chronic bronchitis. Pt. had no other complaints other than loss of appetite "I don't feel like eating". No n/v/d reported. An EKG was performed and it was borderline with non-specific ST changes. However, the labworked revealed a troponin of 3.19!! I ended up shipping the patient to the cath lab pronto!"

If the above example "violates" HIPAA - then the vast majority of nursing and medical schools in the country are in trouble...

IMHO - people make HIPAA out to be some kinda of complicated monster, when it is actually not the case in reality.

cheers,

RN1982 · Mar 18, 2009

Discussing Dx, S/Sx is not a HIPAA violation....no matter if someone reads it on the internet.
One exception: If your patient is the only person on the planet with said Diagnosis.
Then yeah, then that would be an identifying factor.

Curious, say for instance, I was on here posting about my long night at work and discussed my patients without naming names and someone from my job recognized me, is it then a hipaa violation? I'm just wondering because i've had that pointed out to me before so now it's making me more nervous to even bother posting about things at work.

DeeAngel · Mar 18, 2009

If the hospital ever checks or does a search to see who is blogging about what, your blog may come up. The hospital may take a very dim view of you blogging about patients even if you're not violating HIPAA. Do you identify where it is you work? I would be very cautious about this. Workplaces are checking up on social networking stuff much more aggressively than they used to.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Mar 18, 2009

i usually change the names and any other identifying data when i tell stories about patients. for example, my frequent flyer from spokane who had amazing tattoos, i'll say he's a she from boston. or wisconsin. or someplace else i've worked or imagined working. my "manager from hell" from seattle ten years ago might be described on-line as the world's worst manager from madison in the late 80s. and vice versa. the point is, i don't want anyone to even come close when they think they recognize someone from my stories. (of course, my real name isn't really "ruby vee", either!)

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2009

The hospital may take a very dim view of you blogging about patients even if you're not violating HIPAA. Do you identify where it is you work? I would be very cautious about this. Workplaces are checking up on social networking stuff much more aggressively than they used to.

I work at "Crack City ER"... how about you?