Hippa question

[sprintin08]

Hi, I am a nursing student. Is it against hippa to tell people what type of procedures I did or what type of surgeries I saw at clinical if I am not saying any information about the patient? Someone told me it was, but I don't see why saying "i started an IV today" or "I saw a surgery for a hernia" would a problem. Thank you!

[Mike A. Fungin RN]

Exception, and this is a hypothetical, if you had a patient with distinctive injuries that was all over the news... i.e. gunshot wounds and blunt trauma following an altercation with law enforcement... probably less than wise to mention you had a patient with gunshot wounds and blunt trauma.

[April, RN, BSN, RN]

As the others have said, you can certainly tell people where your clinicals are and the things you've seen/done as long as you don't state the patient's name or other identifying info. If you got to watch a face transplant, you might not want to mention details to anyone.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

Hi, I am a nursing student. Is it against hippa to tell people what type of procedures I did or what type of surgeries I saw at clinical if I am not saying any information about the patient? Someone told me it was, but I don't see why saying "i started an IV today" or "I saw a surgery for a hernia" would a problem. Thank you!

No, it is not a HIPAA violation as long as there is no identifying information.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

these are the personal identifiers under the health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996

ø personal identifiers

the following is a list of 18 identifiers:

1. names;

2. addresses

3. dates

4. telephone numbers;

5. fax numbers;

6. email addresses;

7. social security numbers;

8. medical record numbers;

9. health plan numbers;

10. account numbers;

11. certificate/license numbers;

12. vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers;

13. device identifiers and serial numbers;

14. web universal resource locators (urls);

15. internet protocol (ip) address numbers;

16. biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints;

17. full face photographic images and any comparable images; and

18. any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code***

helath care professionals also need to be mindful of discussing clinical situations in public areas that may lead to personal identification.

see the may 2005 series of articles from ojin: online journals of issues in nursing

[color=#1111cc]overview: hipaa: how our health care world has changed

• caring for patients while respecting their privacy: renewing our commitment
  jeanette ives erickson, rn, ms; sally millar, rn, mba (may 31, 2005)
  
• hipaa: a few years later
  laurinda b. harman, phd, rhia (may 31, 2005)
  
• notes on the tension between privacy and surveillance in nursing
  martin johnson rn, msc, phd (manch) (may 31, 2005)
  
• hipaa: past, present and future implications for nurses
  joe flores, rn, msn, jd; andrea dodier, paralegal (may 31, 2005)
  

[zsbaby]

geez there are more important things to remember than how to spell HIPAA! HIPPA HIPPA HIPPA...insert evil laugh here!

[roser13, ASN, RN]

geez there are more important things to remember than how to spell HIPAA! HIPPA HIPPA HIPPA...insert evil laugh here!

Yeah, like appearing to be a competent professional who understands what he/she is talking about.

[HamsterRN, ADN, RN]

Yeah, like appearing to be a competent professional who understands what he/she is talking about.

I know it drives you nuts but accusing someone guilty of the very common "HIPPA" mistake of being incompetent or unprofessional seems excessive.

Unless you live in Hawaii, the double P keystroke is far more natural than the double A keystroke.

Here are some examples of "HIPPA" from otherwise competent and professional (government and university) groups:

HIPPA

Texas State Board of Pharmacyhippa.htm (notice the URL)

HIPPA PRIVACY ACT

http://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA-factsheet-HIPPA-whistle.pdf

(notice the URL)

Those are just from the first 2 pages of a google search. If official publications such as those make the mistake, it seems harsh to flame someone who may be whipping out a post after a 12 hour shift.

To get my post somewhere close to the topic, I wish we focused as much on a correct understanding of HIPAA as we did on the spelling.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

I recommend developing the habit of not discussing anything related to your work except with people who "need to know". That way you cannot get in trouble. We had to send a nursing student home for using her cell phone to call a friend and say "you won't believe who is here having a baby!". Someone they both knew in high school. Not what you did of course, but the point is, it is hard to contain good news sometimes. This girl ended up having to repeat a semester.