IS THIS HIPAA ??? Being harassed for reporting ...

[Anon143]

A co worker found a photo of a CNA who had a partial side face photo of a resident in the background ( you can see the residents side of the face but he has a lot of hair) the nurse was able to identify the patient, still & then he copied the photo from the CNAS Facebook (it was the CNAS main profile photo) & then sent the photo to the DSD & DON to report. The DSD instead told the CNA who reported it & the CNA threatened the male nurse telling him to watch his back. The company didn’t bring it up & just ignored and covered it up & they say that it wasn’t HIPAA (the company always covers things up & the nurse was told that it was HIPAA from a nurse attorney & co workers) and now the CNA keeps threatening him & the DSD laughs at the male nurse for it because she’s cool good friends with the CNA. The CNA is stilL employeed there with no disciplinary actions taken on the CNA. My question is, what can he do? Can he sue? Or contact HR & have this taken care of? Is a company suppose to fire & report HIPAA violations?? Also, did the nurse commit HIPAA himself by sending that photo to management for verification by reporting it ?? He’s thinking of going to a lawyer and now he’s scares to return to work because of the CNA threat about retaliating and beating him up. He says he got the interaction with the CNA who threatened him on tape too but he’s not sure if he can even use the tape. Also, if the company fails to report it.. does he have to report or himself to STATE?? He heard as a mandated reporter, just because you told the DON or DSD doesn’t mean it’s over. If he fails to report it and it comes back. He can be in trouble as well for not reporting????

[brownbook]

22 hours ago, Anon143 said:

I can't fix this post I can't get rid of "22 hours ago, Anon143 said: "

Brownbook is replying...not a quote fron Anon143....

Quote

My advise is you look for another job. You are working in a nut house (I know not politically correct) and the inmates are in charge.

[llg, PhD, RN]

The threat of violence is the far bigger issue here -- not the HIPAA. As a HIPAA violation, it is "small potatoes" -- and while I believe the employee who posted the picture with a patient in the background should be disciplined, that is a smaller issue than the threat of violence.

The person being threatened should report the threat to his employer (supervisor, HR, and security department) ... and ask what they are going to do about it. He/she should also be prepared to file a police report. Safety first.

[MunoRN, RN]

The photo reveals no specific medical information, so it's not a HIPAA violation, but it's well within the range of privacy violation that will get someone fired and/or have license certificate or license scrutinized.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

On 5/22/2019 at 11:34 AM, Anon143 said:

A co worker found a photo of a CNA who had a partial side face photo of a resident in the background ( you can see the residents side of the face but he has a lot of hair) the nurse was able to identify the patient, still & then he copied the photo from the CNAS Facebook (it was the CNAS main profile photo) & then sent the photo to the DSD & DON to report. The DSD instead told the CNA who reported it & the CNA threatened the male nurse telling him to watch his back. The company didn’t bring it up & just ignored and covered it up & they say that it wasn’t HIPAA (the company always covers things up & the nurse was told that it was HIPAA from a nurse attorney & co workers) and now the CNA keeps threatening him & the DSD laughs at the male nurse for it because she’s cool good friends with the CNA. The CNA is stilL employeed there with no disciplinary actions taken on the CNA. My question is, what can he do? Can he sue? Or contact HR & have this taken care of? Is a company suppose to fire & report HIPAA violations?? Also, did the nurse commit HIPAA himself by sending that photo to management for verification by reporting it ?? He’s thinking of going to a lawyer and now he’s scares to return to work because of the CNA threat about retaliating and beating him up. He says he got the interaction with the CNA who threatened him on tape too but he’s not sure if he can even use the tape. Also, if the company fails to report it.. does he have to report or himself to STATE?? He heard as a mandated reporter, just because you told the DON or DSD doesn’t mean it’s over. If he fails to report it and it comes back. He can be in trouble as well for not reporting????

This is several shades of effed up, but I'm not seeing the same problems you are. First, if the photo shows a resident in an institutional setting, it is a HIPAA violation. Unless the resident has signed off on having this photo posted on social media, it's a no-no. In fact, it ought to be a no-no anyway, because everyone who has any sense knows better than to do such a thing.

Instead of talking to the CNA, who might possibly be clueless enough to post a photo showing a resident where he works, the nurse copied it off the internet and sent it to the bosses. That's a cruel and selfish action. An honorable nurse would have first talked to the CNA, then if there was no action, TALKED to the bosses instead of just sending them the photo. (And what difference does it make whether the nurse is male or female?).

You don't know whether or not there has been any disciplinary action taken against the CNA because disciplinary actions are private.

The biggest issue is the CNA's threat against the nurse. That is clearly wrong, but again, the first place to address it is with the boss. Only after addressing it with the boss do you go to HR. Bosses don't like being blindsided like that.

As far as suing, sue for what? Because the CNA was foolish about posting on social media? Because you think the bosses ought to have done something different from what you think they did? Because the nurse was stupid enough to send possibly HIPAA-challenging photos around by email?

Get yourself a new resume and start shopping it around, because I don't see any good workplace relationships for this nurse.

[Anon143]

On 5/26/2019 at 1:06 PM, Ruby Vee said:

This is several shades of effed up, but I'm not seeing the same problems you are. First, if the photo shows a resident in an institutional setting, it is a HIPAA violation. Unless the resident has signed off on having this photo posted on social media, it's a no-no. In fact, it ought to be a no-no anyway, because everyone who has any sense knows better than to do such a thing.

Instead of talking to the CNA, who might possibly be clueless enough to post a photo showing a resident where he works, the nurse copied it off the internet and sent it to the bosses. That's a cruel and selfish action. An honorable nurse would have first talked to the CNA, then if there was no action, TALKED to the bosses instead of just sending them the photo. (And what difference does it make whether the nurse is male or female?).

You don't know whether or not there has been any disciplinary action taken against the CNA because disciplinary actions are private.

The biggest issue is the CNA's threat against the nurse. That is clearly wrong, but again, the first place to address it is with the boss. Only after addressing it with the boss do you go to HR. Bosses don't like being blindsided like that.

As far as suing, sue for what? Because the CNA was foolish about posting on social media? Because you think the bosses ought to have done something different from what you think they did? Because the nurse was stupid enough to send possibly HIPAA-challenging photos around by email?

Get yourself a new resume and start shopping it around, because I don't see any good workplace relationships for this nurse.

The workplace is being sued as we speak by ehse the CNA ended up attacking the nurse. Thanx for the comment but yes, a lawsuit was the right thing to do when her info was disclosed. The company is talking about settling out of court too.