HIPAA Audit

[jamieslovingmom]

Need some advice from all of you.

We are having a HIPAA audit of the EMR record system that we use at our hospital-owned clinic. We made the switch from paper charting to EMR about 2 years ago when I was still a very new LPN. I did not have a lot of training with HIPPA in nursing school (just the usual talk about pt confidentiality) and I am worried that I might have trouble with this audit because my spouse and my children all visit providers in the clinic. On a few occations, without thinking it would be a problem, I accessed my kid's charts to see what their official diagnosis had been, or to make sure that their medications had been sent to the pharmacy. I am wondering now if I am going to end up getting fired over something like this? I also helped to "preload" my hubby's chart (which means opening up a new chart and adding information such as the pt's address, etc) when he first became a patient because we were shorthanded at the time and we (the nurses) were all helping with the process of switching to EMR. To what extent have any of you had experience with HIPAA audits? Should I be worried?

[Pierrette]

I used to be a privacy officer. Nothing you've admitted to violates any provision of HIPAA. Looking at your family's information is a facility rule, not one of HIPAA.

I am surprised that your facility has gone two years without an audit. We did one monthly and should have been more frequent.

[Wishinonastar, BSN]

You may be warned about it because you did not follow correct procedure to get info, but particularly on your kids you have a right to know. It is a shame we have to be so paranoid anymore. When it is your family and they certainly consent to it you should be allowed to check on things. I have the same issues with my mother who is often our patient. No one tells her anything so I have to check and then I am scared to death that I will get in trouble. Somehow I doubt anyone will push the issue because it is immediate family. Now if it were your in-laws it might be different...