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?

I left a message for their HIPPA compliance officer this morning, we'll see if she calls back. I totally agree the nurse should be terminated.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

OP, I understand that you are in a difficult situation. A couple of points for consideration:

Your brother is your father's next of kin. Unless your father has previously identified in writing someone to act as his healthcare POA/proxy -- it is not inappropriate for the facility caring for your father to be providing information on his condition. In the midst of a health crisis, it is not possible for the care team to make judgements about ongoing family dynamics. Next of kin - spouse, child, parent, sibling - is next of kin, unless otherwise specified. If your father is not currently able to direct his own care and your brother is the only family member present ... can you see why your brother is being provided updated information.

Regulations regarding the accessibility of psychiatric care records can be different, and can vary from state to state. It would be advisable to have some concrete information about what was accessed and shared, in what form, when, by whom, and in what context. Confirmed HIPAA violations *can* incur civil or criminal penalties, but please do not get the impression that someone is going to be "arrested".

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency.
OP, I understand that you are in a difficult situation. A couple of points for consideration:

Your brother is your father's next of kin. Unless your father has previously identified in writing someone to act as his healthcare POA/proxy -- it is not inappropriate for the facility caring for your father to be providing information on his condition. In the midst of a health crisis, it is not possible for the care team to make judgements about ongoing family dynamics. Next of kin - spouse, child, parent, sibling - is next of kin, unless otherwise specified. If your father is not currently able to direct his own care and your brother is the only family member present ... can you see why your brother is being provided updated information.

Regulations regarding the accessibility of psychiatric care records can be different, and can vary from state to state. It would be advisable to have some concrete information about what was accessed and shared, in what form, when, by whom, and in what context. Confirmed HIPAA violations *can* incur civil or criminal penalties, but please do not get the impression that someone is going to be "arrested".

The problem is that it was NOT the facility caring for OPs father. It was one he hasn't been in recently and is definitely a violation.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

From a privacy standpoint, Psych records are more "sensitive" than other health care records. Kudos to OP for taking a stand and following up appropriately. Failure to act is (ethically) the same as support of those bad actions.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

He's estranged from you by choice. Maybe he doesn't WANT you to advocate for him.

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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I should clarify that I have reconciled with my father 4 months ago. Also, my father does have a health care proxy and it is not that brother. Further, he is more than competent to manage his own care. The brother who got his psych eval only wanted it because he is nosey, and cannot deal with my father's estrangement in a constructive way, like therapy. He is in no way involving my father's care. In fact, my father has specified that the facility is in now is not to tell my brothers anything, including the fact that he is even there. And the "having someone arrested" comment was only meant to describe how mad my dad would be. However, HIPPA violations ARE a federal offense, and penalties can include jail time.

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I should clarify that I have reconciled with my father 4 months ago. Also, my father does have a health care proxy and it is not that brother. Further, he is more than competent to manage his own care. The brother who got his psych eval only wanted it because he is nosey, and cannot deal with my father's estrangement in a constructive way, like therapy. He is in no way involving my father's care. In fact, my father has specified that the facility is in now is not to tell my brothers anything, including the fact that he is even there. And the "having someone arrested" comment was only meant to describe how mad my dad would be. However, HIPPA violations ARE a federal offense, and penalties can include jail time.

As a side note, "HIPAA" is correct and "HIPPA" is not. I'm not sure if you're communicating in writing (email) or by phone, but just n case...

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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.

My father has made an effort to reconcile with me, but not my 4 bothers.

I should clarify that I have reconciled with my father 4 months ago.

In your OP you wrote that you have no contact with your father, now you say that the two of you reconciled four months ago?

My brother has no right to my dad's personal information

The brother who got his psych eval only wanted it because he is nosey, and cannot deal with my father's estrangement in a constructive way, like therapy.

How is your relationship with your brothers? Are your efforts on your fathers behalf solely based on your desire to advocate for him or are they influenced by the dynamics between you and your siblings?

I hope to be an advocate for my father, and protect his rights as a patient.

Getting my dad involved is not an option, for very complicated reasons I am not willing to share in this forum.

Further, he is more than competent to manage his own care.

It's difficult to offer you any advice when you don't want to share the complicated reasons which you think rules out getting your father involved in/responsible for his own advocacy. You say that he is capable and based on that fact, if it were me, I'd let him take charge of his own care and instead focus my time and energy on improving my relationship with my father. (If that was something that I wanted).

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.
I should clarify that I have reconciled with my father 4 months ago. Also, my father does have a health care proxy and it is not that brother. Further, he is more than competent to manage his own care.

In that case, your father is able to manage the situation as he wishes.

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My "complicated reasons" have to do with a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and the estrangement happened because my father was going to remarry, and her granddaughters became the focus of my father's inappropriate obsession with them. We decided we had a moral obligation to tell the girls' parents of my father's pedophelia, so that's why he won't speak to any of us. My 4 brothers and I are very close, but we're not all in the same stages of healing. So now you can see why I didn't think it was appropriate to share that here.

My father doesn't know his privacy has been breached, and considering the volatile family dynamics, I'd rather he didn't know, but he is likely to find out since I filed a complaint.

Speaking of moral obligations, do we not, as nurses, have an obligation to do something about a nurse's criminal activity?

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So you think I should tattle on my brother to my dad and then just back off?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
My "complicated reasons" have to do with a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and the estrangement happened because my father was going to remarry, and her granddaughters became the focus of my father's inappropriate obsession with them. We decided we had a moral obligation to tell the girls' parents of my father's pedophelia, so that's why he won't speak to any of us. My 4 brothers and I are very close, but we're not all in the same stages of healing. So now you can see why I didn't think it was appropriate to share that here.

My father doesn't know his privacy has been breached, and considering the volatile family dynamics, I'd rather he didn't know, but he is likely to find out since I filed a complaint.

Speaking of moral obligations, do we not, as nurses, have an obligation to do something about a nurse's criminal activity?

I'm glad you filed the complaint. Please keep us updated.

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