Is this a HIPAA violation?

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I'm having a debate on a different website with someone.

They said their cousin works at a hospital and told him that his girlfriend was a patient there and she had an abortion. They identified the hospital, and the girlfriend by name. The girlfriend told the guy she had a miscarriage. He told the girlfriend what the cousin told him and she admitted to it. I know this is clearly a HIPAA violation, but wanted to get more opinions. In this situation, can't the girlfriend sue for HIPAA violations?

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

This IS clearly a HIPPA violation. I know that it may be 'right' morally to tell her mate that she had an abortion, rather than a miscarriage, but, it was HER right to keep it a secret.

I have a friend who was an LPN working at a hospital where people knew her mother as well as her boyfriend. She got a pregnancy test done at her job, and it came out positive. She was not sure of whether she planned to keep the baby or not, and just told her boyfriend. One of the employees told her mother, which caused an argument between the two of them. In fact, the mother did not speak to her until she went into labor. The mom has not, to this day, 9 years later, told her daughter who gave her this information. My friend stated that if she ever discovered who leaked the information, she would still make a big deal about it.

It is not up to us to be the judge and jury by steering people in a different direction. Who knows why this woman chose to abort?? What if the guy was abusive, or she had a genetic defect? What if she just wanted to move on? I think this was a horrible situation and if the girl can sue, or bring on serious disciplinary action on these employees, then, I say to go for it.

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I'm opposed to abortion, and I still say this was a major violation and the cousin should be hung out to dry if that's what the patient wants.

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Specializes in Cardiac x3 years, PACU x1 year.

Morality is not the issue. Abortion, cosmetic procedure, mole removal, whatever the case, it is no one else's business what one does with one's body. How would it be right 'morally' to tell her boyfriend? It's her body.

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Major HIPAA violation. Are people fighting you on another site saying that it isn't?! They couldn't be more wrong.

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Individuals cannot sue for HIPPA violations. Facilities can be fined.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

The boyfriend probably wished he knew how she really felt. It would have been better coming from her than someone who was legally bound not to mention what she did. I definitely feel that she can do what she wants with her body. I have no issues with that, personally. But I can still imagine how he may feel betrayed, because she told him she had a miscarriage, rather than terminated the baby.

If I were in her shoes, I would make waves.

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Major HIPAA violation. Are people fighting you on another site saying that it isn't?! They couldn't be more wrong.

Yeah, this guy is. But he clearly don't work in the medical field. He feels his cousin had a "moral" right to tell him about his girlfriend getting an abortion. I told him he better hope his girlfriend is not aware of HIPAA laws because his cousin could be fired.

Others who work in the insurance field has backed me up. I told him it's not about morals, it's about protecting the patient's privacy, no matter why she was there.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Yeah, this guy is. But he clearly don't work in the medical field. He feels his cousin had a "moral" right to tell him about his girlfriend getting an abortion. I told him he better hope his girlfriend is not aware of HIPAA laws because his cousin could be fired.

Others who work in the insurance field has backed me up. I told him it's not about morals, it's about protecting the patient's privacy, no matter why she was there.

I don't know this guy...maybe she wanted to get an abortion because he was abusive, or she just wasn't ready to have a child. If I were him, and were not a nurse, I would have been upset that my cousin knew and didn't tell me. I would have felt that the entire world knew my business before I did. It appears that he already knew she was pregnant, unless he found out the entire story; including the pregnancy from his relative.

But, she had a right NOT to have this fact spread around by anyone. The cousin, working in the hospital should have known that she was not to say anything about this situation, no matter how compromising it may have been. Based on that alone, I would make tidal waves. You never know what her reasons were to terminate the pregnancy, and she went to this facility with the good faith that her business was not to be compromised this way. :angryfire

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Yeah, this guy is. But he clearly don't work in the medical field. He feels his cousin had a "moral" right to tell him about his girlfriend getting an abortion. I told him he better hope his girlfriend is not aware of HIPAA laws because his cousin could be fired.

Others who work in the insurance field has backed me up. I told him it's not about morals, it's about protecting the patient's privacy, no matter why she was there.

You were 100% right. The cousin could very well lose his job if she makes a stink. She can cause big problems for the hospital if she wanted to. I would raise holy hell.

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This is a huge hipaa violation....Any medical personnel would know this...The cousin who told should have known better....:icon_roll

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This is a huge hipaa violation....Any medical personnel would know this...The cousin who told should have known better....:icon_roll
Absolutely, but just one point to add: it's not just the medical personnel. Every employee in every department has this drilled into them from day one. Doesn't matter if they work in patient care or not.
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