Did I say too much? Hipaa Violation?

[guest998179]

I am not a medical staffer, but I work in a facility in contact with patients. I usually stay mum about all that happens at work, but once I mentioned to my loved ones (no one else could hear) that there had been a code blue during a hard weekend of work. My loved ones weren't familiar with the term, so I explained that a code blue is when the heart stops, or breathing stops. My loved one asked, "did they die?" I said yes (without mentioning the name, gender, age, anything else about the patient), and then I thought, oh no, I think I've said too much! I feel that had I merely said that there was a code, well, that would have been alright, if negligiable. But when the person asked about the death, I should have said that I couldn't/shouldn't answer. Is this a Hipaa violation?

[oceanblue52]

As far as I can tell from your retrlling, you did not give away any personal identification or health history of the patient, which means you did not violate HIPAA.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Your fine. No identifiers.

[guest998179]

thanks, but even if my loved ones know where I work (and where the code/death took place)?

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Correct. You did not identify the patient.

[guest998179]

thanks so much!

[MunoRN, RN]

Even if you had used personal identifiers, revealing that someone has died is not protected information so long as you don't reveal a specific medical condition.