HIPPA -- Use patient's first name or last name?

[Aunt Minnie]

Hi everyone :)

I'm an incoming student and have also taken a part time job as an aide/clerk at the hospital where I am to be attending school. So far the folks training me have been great but there have been some inconsistencies that I haven't been able to clarify yet (just because things are hectic).

I have two women training me. One says that when I go to the waiting room and announce for a patient to come back I should use their last name because of HIPPA (ie: Ms. Smith or Mr. Jones). The other woman training me says never use their last name in public, use their first name (ie: calling out for Jill or Jim).

Which is correct? Whenever I go to the Doctor's office they call for me by my first name; personally I prefer that but unfortunately that doesn't mean it's correct as far as HIPPA goes.

Thanks for any clarification!

[Aneroo, LPN]

At our ER, we do neither. We have beepers (like you get at Outback). Makes life easier for the staff out front registering the pt as well. You walk in, get a pager. Get paged to go to triage. Get paged to go to registration.

At doc's office's, they usually call me Ms. my last name. At my OB's office they call me by my first name, but I see them a whole lot more. -Andrea

[Aunt Minnie]

Thank you Aneroo :)

Is this something that is dependent solely on the facilities policies then?

[over30nursestudent]

I would stick with using mr.,ms, mrs smith. and If you have more than one patient with same last name. Have them clarify what their first name is. I work as an aide on a med/surg floor, I refer to my patients by their room number. pretty silly huh? :chuckle

Hi everyone :)

I'm an incoming student and have also taken a part time job as an aide/clerk at the hospital where I am to be attending school. So far the folks training me have been great but there have been some inconsistencies that I haven't been able to clarify yet (just because things are hectic).

I have two women training me. One says that when I go to the waiting room and announce for a patient to come back I should use their last name because of HIPPA (ie: Ms. Smith or Mr. Jones). The other woman training me says never use their last name in public, use their first name (ie: calling out for Jill or Jim).

Which is correct? Whenever I go to the Doctor's office they call for me by my first name; personally I prefer that but unfortunately that doesn't mean it's correct as far as HIPPA goes.

Thanks for any clarification!

[Rohan]

I get called by my full name at our clinic. I hate that.

[DusktilDawn]

Good question, I don't know which one is correct. I know I prefer to be called by my first name since people have trouble pronouncing my last name. As a nurse I have seen many last names that I had no idea how to pronounce (I usually ask the person how). I think it would depend on your facilities policies whether you use the first or last name.

[Aunt Minnie]

Wow, I hadn't expected such a wide range of answers! Thanks to everyone who has chimed in so far. Eventually I'll ask my supervisor which she prefers (but for now I feel like I've already asked sooooo many questions... this just seemed like something that could wait awhile ).

Maybe the most prudent thing to do would be to use only the first or only the last and not the entire name (I find it really strange that they use your entire name at the clinic, Rohan). I guess I figured using the first name, while less respectful, discloses less to the other patients because there are probably a lot more Jack's, Lisa's, and Mary's than there are DiAngelo's and Hilbert's.

Personally I think it's kinda strange, period. I mean, if someone who's also in the waiting room knows me, won't they recognise my face???

[CritterLover, BSN, RN]

we use first and last name or just last name.

i don't think it is a direct hipaa violation. hipaa really isn't as restricting as many think it is, but we are so afraid of violating it, that we tend to enforce it more broadly than it needs to be enforced.

using first names only in a busy er would be insane. there might be 20 "amy"s out there. (and they will all come when you call "amy," insisting that they were there first!)

the beeper idea sounds like a good one if you want to avoid calling out last names, but they would probably grow legs and walk away.

[Aunt Minnie]

I just spent about an hour trying to find the answer to my question through HIPPA.org and had no luck. I'm not well versed enough in the lingo to sift through and actually understand what the different clauses etc. of the act are talking about and my specific question isn't addressed in any of the FAQ.

However, as a side note I did stumble upon a "HIPPA humor" link should any of you wish to check it out. Who would've thunk it? HIPPA and humor going together?

My personal favorite:

"Knock, knock.

Who's there?

HIPAA.

HIPAA who?

Sorry, I'm not allowed to disclose that information."

Here's the link if you're bored enough to check it out : http://hipaadvisory.com/live/FAQ/humor.htm

[unknown99, BSN, RN]

We, too, use the beeper system.

[CashewLPN, LPN]

hmm...if you just called for 'ms. smith' or, 'Mr. Joe Schmo' it would be ok...but if you called out

'I need the Ms. Smith with Cancer' or, ' Mr. Schmo, please come in for your chest x-ray'

you'd be leaping over the line of ok...

Names are cool, anything else paired with names is bad.

-- Cashew

[goats'r'us, ASN, RN]

i call my patients by their title (ie. mrs smith) till i have a situation where i can talk to them a bit longer and ask what they like to be called. i feel uncomfortable calling them by their first name till they tell me to because i barely know them and it feels disrespectful.