HIPAA anxiety!

[guest1200295]

Dear nurses, seeking your input. I believe that my job (as a support staffer at a healthcare facility) has caused me so much stress (and that I seem to lack the coping skills necessary) that I've developed -- or maybe deepened -- a real anxiety about violating HIPAA, and an uber-vigilence about it all. I live in a tightly-knit community and have a lot of dread when seeing friends or family who might raise issues about patients, such as somebody at the grocery store who knows what I do at my job and asks me, "Oh, so-and-so is at your facility ... have you seen them?" I've learned to either change the subject, or just outright tell them I can't comment (sigh), but the whole issue causes me such fear and dread. Recently, a friend told me about a person they know who fought a great illness. They described the person, possibly saying their name, describing their demographics. I thought, "Hmmm, that sounds familiar ..." since I thought of a similar patient I had heard about at our facility. I wasn't sure if I had seen the person in my work, ultimately asking my friend, hopefully, "did that person survive the illness?" My friend went on to speak about the outcome, possibly asking if I had seen them. I'm sure I wouldn't have told them yes or no, but I thought, oh boy, if that was the person I have in mind who was at our facility, should I even have asked about the outcome? Was my question inappropriate within the context of this coffeetalk, does anyone else struggle with this type of anxiety, and how can I stop being so fearful about HIPAA?

[JKL33]

Get yourself a small handful of  responses that work for any situation where you don't want the appearances of anything inappropriate, such as

"Oh I have no idea, and I don't discuss patients anyway!"

Hopefulone said:

or just outright tell them I can't comment (sigh),

Why the sigh?  Does it make you feel bad to say that? If so, it shouldn't--it's precisely what they need to hear.  Remember, conversations like this were only ever gossip to begin with, even before HIPAA. People do know that they have no business asking you about patients to whom you provide services.

So if any part of you is feeling bad about telling people you can't give them any juicy gossip, well--don't. Don't feel bad.

Another tip is to just stay in listening mode during conversations, give basic responses such as, "yes, that can be difficult" or even "hmmm", "oh my" or whatever else is saying something without saying anything.

HIPAA need not cause a bunch of angst. For the purposes you're asking about it's really very simple and straightforward. It should be VERY easy not to slip up in general conversation, since we shouldn't be in the habit of having random discussions involving PHI to begin with.

Take care~

[guest1200295]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. Actually, as I reread my question, yes, the person did say the name and some social connections of the person they knew, which triggered my own thoughts (and internally, I wondered if the person was someone I'd heard about from our own workplace). Those responses (hmmmm, I'm so sorry, that must be difficult, my my, etc.) are best, also the statement of not knowing or being able to give any info. Yes, I've done this as well in other circumstances. I appreciate the time you took to respond. Thank you again.