hippa violation

SunnyAndrsn · Oct 28, 2008

Yeah, you should have asked friend with the sick DH if she wanted you to update friend #3.

k, a little background. i'm privately contracted to do bedside procedures in the icu. my friends husband is in the room next door & it's not a good situation. a third friend has been with her all day but is now gone. i'm doing the procedure next door, fully aware of what is happening to my friends husband. my friend is upset with the doctors & is crying & confronting them at his bedside. I call friend #3 to tell her what all has transpired, updating her on the declining desposition of my friends husband. we r all nurses. an icu nurse overhears me talking to friend #3 about our friend's husband's condition. now the icu charge nurse & house supervisor are trying to slap me with a HIPPA violation & ban me from the hospital. Did i violate hippa by updating a friend on another friend's husband?

caliotter3 · Oct 28, 2008

I would not have become involved. If the friend wants this info, she can get it from the wife of the patient. When you don't divulge info between third parties, then you can't be blamed for anything.

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Oct 28, 2008

I'm no legal expert, but it does sound to me that you violated his privacy. The wife should be the only one to update friend #3. I'm trying to put myself in the situation. It is a sticky one. I think it would have been ok to tell friend #3 the wife was going thru a tough time with the docs and you may want to give her a call- and that would only be if you were EXTREMELY CLOSE FRIENDS, but I don't think it was your place to update her on the husband declining status, JMHO

glasshalffull · Oct 28, 2008

she did, we have all been discussing her husband's case. Friend #3 called me worried about her because she wasn't answering her phone. We all know it's grim & friend #3 was worried he died. after it was all said n done the patient's wife updated #3 while i sat with her in the waiting room consoling her. so when does discussing ur friend become a HIPPA violation? I mean, i wasn't caring for her husband in anyway what so ever. I merely passed on what i heard the other ICU nurses caring for him said. I'm not an employee of the hospital, i'm privately contracted by a doctor. the hospital does not sign my paychecks. i was acting as a friend of the patient, not as his caretaker in the icu. i'm confused :bugeyes:

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Oct 28, 2008

Well, I think if the wife was ok with you discussing her husband's condition, which it was, then I don't think there really is any problem. I don't really know if the administration has anything to go on. Maybe the legal nurse forum can give you some feedback, good luck, it sounds like a difficult and unusual situation for all involved. Lesson learned, make sure no one can over hear your conversations

Batman24 · Oct 28, 2008

Is there bad blood between you and these nurses as you come in from the outside to do private care?! That was my first reaction to this thread.

Your friend won't be making a complaint against you here so I'm not sure how the doctor you work for would respond if they forwarded this info to him. I would just lay low and let it blow over which I think it will.

Consider this a learning experience. Keep your private conversations very private in the future and be very careful what info you pass on.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Oct 28, 2008

I probably would have changed into street clothes, then come back and visited off the clock, making it clear I was no longer in "nurse-mode." I also probably wouldn't have called the update then and there. Maybe on my cell phone later.

RN1982 · Oct 28, 2008

This is probably not what you want to hear but I think you crossed the line. Regardless of whether or not it was ok with your friend, you should have let her do the updating. I understand you are all friends and all ICU nurses but you were not caring for this patient and its not your place to tell your other friend "what the ICU nurses are saying". I hope you have learned from this because it could be your license on the lline and it sounds like it might be already.

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2008

HIPAA prohibits health care providers from disclosing protected health information to third parties without the patient's or their representative's consent. You were not in the role of health care provider to these people, so I do not think HIPAA applies here. However, I do think it was bad form, and possibly in violation of that facility's internal policy, and would have advised you against making that phone call at that time.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Oct 28, 2008

You were acting as a health care professional hired by the hospital while you were doing the procedure. You should not have become involved in anything other than the patient you were assigned to during your work time. After work you could visit as a member of the public, or make any phone calls you like. I am certain that if you as an employee (of any kind) communicated information outside the hospital, and communicated about someone you were not assigned to, that your employer can cite you as violating confidentiality. As a member of the public though, you're not bound by confidentiality laws, and you really should have waited, or at least excused yourself and gone on a break if you couldn't wait.

justme1972 · Oct 28, 2008

Well, I think if the wife was ok with you discussing her husband's condition, which it was, then I don't think there really is any problem. I don't really know if the administration has anything to go on. Maybe the legal nurse forum can give you some feedback, good luck, it sounds like a difficult and unusual situation for all involved. Lesson learned, make sure no one can over hear your conversations

Interesting point.

I wonder if the hospital can file HIPAA charges against the OP or does it have to be the patient?

The OP technically did commit a violation, but I say no harm, no foul, but lesson learned for the future.