Would you be a patient at your place of employment?

[Catys_With_Me]

I accepted an RN position at a clinic that has several office sites. I will work at one, I happen to already be a patient at another. I'm now wondering if it is wise for my employer to have such handy access to my medical records...

What do you think?

[EmmaG, RN]

My hospital had electronic charts, so anyone with access to the computer had access to my records. I trusted those I worked with, and had no qualms about being a patient there. However, I did ask my doc not to dictate certain things on my H&P; they did not impact my care, and were private matters to me. I also was entered into the system as a confidential patient, meaning that I didn't appear on the census or OR schedule (so others I knew on other floors couldn't access my record). This also generated an automatic audit that tracked everyone who did access my chart. So if they didn't have a "need to know", they would have been caught.

[Davisk01]

I wouldn't because I know what kind of HIPPA violations happen with a lot of people at the hospital I work for. When I was MUCH younger I went to the ER for drinking too much at a college party and now it lists "alchohol abuse" in my records. We all know we are not supposed to but who is really there to stop a prospective employer from taking a quick peek into anyones files.