hipaa violation?

[jzzyl]

A nurse friend of mine was fired for a ? hipaa violation. Her supervisor readmitted a patient to the long term care independent section of their facility from the nursing section and took the patients word that there were no med. changes when in fact there were. The supervisor had a prn nurse who was unfamiliar with the admission procedures do the chart paperwork review portion of the readmission while she did the patient assessment. My friend caught the errors over a weekend when the supervisor was not working, wrote the supervisor a note regarding the missed med changes listing the specific patient and the med changes, and updated the med record and notified pharmacy of the appropriate changes. The supervisor later retaliated against the nurse and the nurse was written up due to an unrelated, very petty event. In my friends grievance letter to the head of HR, the administrator of the facility and the director of nursing she placed a copy of the note that she had written to her supervisor regarding the above readmission med errors and cited her supervisor's errors. The specific patients last name and the medications involved were cited in the note. She was fired. She was told that the head of HR and the Administrator should not have received this information. Was this a hipaa violation even though she was reporting an unsafe practice, which she felt she was being retaliated against for, to her superiors, in a private fashion.

[David13, MSN, RN]

I don't think this was a HIPAA violation. This information was communicated confidentially and appropriately to others who should have used this information to correct an unsafe practice. It appears to be a simple case of those in positions of authority protecting their own.

The only reason they are saying these people should not have received this information is that it made the supervisor look bad. They were picking and choosing which rules to enforce and, of course, the supervisor came out smelling like a rose.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

she needs to file for unemployment.....they will need to prove firing with cause....

[roser13, ASN, RN]

HIPAA is open to multiple interpretations. Witness the # of HIPAA

Consultants (newly-devised occupation). An easily-understood regulation doesn't need interpreters. Many facilities are utilizing HIPAA laws to enforce their own brand of rules. But in the end, it doesn't really matter whether you are violating HIPAA or your corporation's interpretation of HIPAA. No one is keeping track. You must keep track of your own company's rules/HIPAA interpretation and abide by them.

[Pierrette]

In my friends grievance letter to the head of HR, the administrator of the facility and the director of nursing she placed a copy of the note that she had written to her supervisor regarding the above readmission med errors and cited her supervisor's errors. The specific patients last name and the medications involved were cited in the note.

You can answer your own question. Was the minimum information about the patient communicated to the HR and Administrator, in order for them to do their jobs? Couldn't this have just been communicated as "Patient X"?

Yes, this was a violation, but the penalty seems harsh.

[jzzyl]

If my friend hadn't communicated the patients last name how could the head of HR and the Administrator have investigated the incident? If she had just communicated patient X they could not have done their job. She did in my opinion only communicate the information needed for them to do their job. She gave only the patients last name and the specific medications, nothing further regarding the patient.

[Katie82, RN]

This is an example of the HIPAA police taking an issue to the extreme. First of all, HR is working as an agent of the same entity that provided care to the patient. To say they cannot share info is absurd. Every employee of an organization directly involved in providing healthcare signs an agreement to maintain confidentiality - even HR. Sounds like they were looking for an excuse and found one under the umbrella of HIPAA.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Absolutely incredible. They were determined to fire her and they did, but I think they left themselves open if she chooses to pursue it. I'd be happy to hear that she kicked their butts in court.

[David13, MSN, RN]

Absolutely incredible. They were determined to fire her and they did, but I think they left themselves open if she chooses to pursue it. I'd be happy to hear that she kicked their butts in court.

I agree. I think if your friend should decide to do so, she would have an excellent case. And I would be willing to bet that the hospital would never let it get that far because a lawsuit would expose the fact that they did nothing about the supervisor's huge error that started the whole mess but instead chose to fire the whistle blower.

[Heogog53]

Time to see a lawyer about wrongful firing........as well as asking the state board of nursing, labor, ethics, etc if this is considered a HIPPA violation.