Hippa Regulation???

[Joeleen]

I have a question about this. I am really confused and want some advice. Recently a professional football player had a baby at our hospital. Word got out that he was tehre some how and all the dads were outside of the room it was pretty funny. My patient asked me what room he was in and I said I didn't know. I was NOT going to tell them teh room number!!!

Today on TV it said the football players name and that he had recently had a baby. I turned to my friend and said oh I was there that day and that he was a very nice man. I even told her how I asked him a stupid question about his profession. Her friend turned to me and said you need to be careful what you say you can get into trouble and go to jail!

I think I did something wrong but not sure..... some info would be great.

Or an explanation of HIPPA. I understand it but not sure about what you can say.

Thanks.

[clee1]

I have a question about this. I am really confused and want some advice. Recently a professional football player had a baby at our hospital. Word got out that he was tehre some how and all the dads were outside of the room it was pretty funny. My patient asked me what room he was in and I said I didn't know. I was NOT going to tell them teh room number!!!

Today on TV it said the football players name and that he had recently had a baby. I turned to my friend and said oh I was there that day and that he was a very nice man. I even told her how I asked him a stupid question about his profession. Her friend turned to me and said you need to be careful what you say you can get into trouble and go to jail!

I think I did something wrong but not sure..... some info would be great.

Or an explanation of HIPPA. I understand it but not sure about what you can say.

Thanks.

I think you were actually OK during this conversation.

You did not give out any medical specific info; just that you were there when he was there and that you had spoken to him. You did not disclose any info that was not already in the public domain.

IF you had said: The child's name, birth weight, apgar score, etc. you WOULD have been in violation of HIPAA regs. Just confirming that you met the man to your friends after it BEING ANNOUNCED to the world on TV is not a federal case.

Your friend IS right however: You DO need to be VERY careful what you say to people about what you learn at the hospital.

[kat911]

Get in trouble, yes, get fined, yes. Go to jail, I haven't heard of that happening to anyone. As long as the parents are acknowledging the birth of the child at your hospital your comments would probably be ok.

[suzanne4, RN]

You were okay since it already had been on the news.

The issue is that there are some people who do not want anyone to even know that they are in the hospital. And by saying that they are, you are giving up privileged information.

Example: Your husband's best friend's brother is on your unit (if it were not OB). Until your husband says something to you about it, you cannot share that information with him. If the patient asks you how your family is, then that is another story. But not all want to be know that they are there, and you need to respect their privacy.

This is how HIPAA comes into play.

So unless something is already public knowledge, it should not originate with you.