How to balance HIPAA with good manners

Sour Lemon · Jul 25, 2016

I volunteer in our local ER (I'm not yet a nurse) and I saw a family waiting to be seen that I know from my child's school. I barely know them, as in I know the kid's name but not the parents' and if I were to run into them anywhere else, we would probably exchange a nod and a shy smile and that's it.
I was advised by a fellow volunteer and a nurse that I should not acknowledge that I know them at all. But now we're venturing into bad manners territory--they don't understand all the intricacies of HIPAA and they probably think I was being standoffish, or worse, didn't recognize them at all.
So is it really true that I should pretend I don't know them, even if they are left to misinterpret that as me being rude?

That doesn't make sense, to me. A smile and a nod would be fine. If you met them in the ER and then saw them at school, that might be a time for greater discretion.

Emergent, RN · Jul 25, 2016

If you'd exchange a nod and smile, then nod and smile. What you can't do is discuss their medical situation in the regular world, unless they initiate. In other words, when you see them next time, nod and smile, don't ask anything about their medical situation. If they volunteer information, politely listen.

dishes, BSN, RN · Jul 25, 2016

I think you should listen to the advice of your fellow volunteer and the nurse who works in the ER, they know the culture of the ER and have insight into what is considered discretion in the community.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Jul 25, 2016

"The intricacies of HIPAA" do not dictate that you cannot acknowledge the presence of someone you know in "real life" when you run into them where they are seeking care. It simply means you cannot reveal what you know about their medical records to anyone not involved in their care.

I've often seen people I know at my facility. I greet them, ask them NO questions about why they are there, and go about my business. It WOULD be rude of me to look straight at them, and make no acknowledgment. You cannot violate HIPAA with a nod and a smile under the circumstances described.

MyAimIsTrue, BSN · Jul 25, 2016

"The intricacies of HIPAA" do not dictate that you cannot acknowledge the presence of someone you know in "real life" when you run into them where they are seeking care. It simply means you cannot reveal what you know about their medical records to anyone not involved in their care.
I've often seen people I know at my facility. I greet them, ask them NO questions about why they are there, and go about my business. It WOULD be rude of me to look straight at them, and make no acknowledgment. You cannot violate HIPAA with a nod and a smile under the circumstances described.

This is what I was thinking as well, but when the nurse said I shouldn't acknowledge that I know them, I didn't know what to think!

And what about taking it a step further--what if she knew I was familiar but couldn't quite place me. Would it be inappropriate to say, "Oh hi! I'm so-and-so's mom"?

dishes, BSN, RN · Jul 25, 2016

Ask the volunteer and nurse their reasons, as a nurse, I have had to reassure a patient, that the volunteer who recognized them in waiting area, knew nothing about the patient's medical reasons for being there.