My father's health information

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My estranged father is in a health care facility after a stroke, and has no contact with me or my siblings (his choice). My brother's friend is a nurse at a facility my dad was at previously. Yesterday the nurse found my dad's psych eval, and gave it to my brother. Now my brother wants me to read it and tell him what it all means. At first I wanted to see it. Thankfully I came to my senses quickly, and told my brother I could lose my license if I got involved, and that what he and the nurse are doing is illegal and unethical. I want to report the nurse but I don't know who she is, and I'm in a different state. Should I do anything, or just forget about it?

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What do you hope to gain or accomplish by reporting it?

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If a nurse accessed your medical record, printed it, and gave it to someone else to read, what would you want someone to do?

I would feel violated and assaulted. I would want someone to report it.

What that nurse did was illegal and unethical.

I would report it.

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What do you hope to gain or accomplish by reporting it?

How about making sure that that nurse doesn't violate another person's privacy in the future.

Or making sure the facility implements appropriate controls to prevent this from happening to someone else (possibly you or me).

Patients trust health care providers with their most closely guarded secrets in order to get appropriate medical care. If patients feel they cannot trust medical professionals to guard their confidences, then they won't be open and honest. Without information, health care providers can't do their jobs, and patients suffer.

Psych info is particularly sensitive. The laws protecting mental health records are even more strict, because the legislature recognized how sensitive that info is.

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What do you hope to gain or accomplish by reporting it?

It's a legitimate question. The OP is estranged from her father, hasn't seen the actual report and has only second-hand knowledge regarding how it was obtained. She doesn't even know the supposed violator's name.

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I hope to be an advocate for my father, and protect his rights as a patient. I think if my dad knew, he'd have someone arrested. My brother has no right to my dad's personal information, and the nurse gave it to him unsolicited.

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My father has made an effort to reconcile with me, but not my 4 bothers. I'm sure if I called the facility they could figure out who accessed his records last, since he was discharged from there in december, and I can't think of any good reason that nurse would have needed to access his info.

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My father has made an effort to reconcile with me, but not my 4 bothers. I'm sure if I called the facility they could figure out who accessed his records last, since he was discharged from there in december, and I can't think of any good reason that nurse would have needed to access his info.

Would they give you that information, though? It seems like you'd need to speak to your father and get him involved if you want to go anywhere with this.

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I don't need information from them. But they should know that one of their nurses are giving out private info. Getting my dad involved is not an option, for very complicated reasons I am not willing to share in this forum. I've decided to call the facility and see what their DON thinks about it.

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Would they give you that information, though? It seems like you'd need to speak to your father and get him involved if you want to go anywhere with this.

Anyone can report a HIPAA violation. It doesn't have to be the patient.

You can report it directly to the Privacy Officer at the facility or online through the Office of Civil Rights at

Filing a HIPAA Complaint | HHS.gov

They probably won't tell her who accessed the information.

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I don't need information from them. But they should know that one of their nurses are giving out private info. Getting my dad involved is not an option, for very complicated reasons I am not willing to share in this forum. I've decided to call the facility and see what their DON thinks about it.

Doesn't sound like it will go too far, but at least the facility will be made aware and employees can be counseled if need be. That's achievable ...and not too disruptive to your complicated family situation.

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Anyone can report a HIPAA violation. It doesn't have to be the patient.

You can report it directly to the Privacy Officer at the facility or online through the Office of Civil Rights at

Filing a HIPAA Complaint | HHS.gov

They probably won't tell her who accessed the information.

If you're going to report something of this nature IMHO it's always best to report it directly to the top resource, not someone who works for the facility or a complaint to the charge nurse. Always report to the person with the most authority to take actual action and impose fines. Counseling to me, counts for absolutely nothing concerning a HIPAA breach such as OP reports. It is an egregious violation and that nurse deserves to be fined and terminated. This goes far beyond a simple mistake.

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