My husband was violated today and I need advice!! (hipaa violated that is)

[FLAtoNYC]

I am at dinner with my husband tonight and he tells me that he got a call today on his cell he uses for work from someone who claimed to work at the office of a doctor he saw one time over a year ago saying that said MD told him my husband had come to the office for back pain and asking if he had time to talk about his pain killer usage... (background... DH has 2 herniated disks and nerve damage for about 5 years now and a lot of pain and is under treatment from a different doc and gets injections into the bones every other month. This particular MD is a family practice doc and when we moved here last year, hubby chose her for primary and he saw her ONCE for a physical when he was told she couldn't manage him and he would have to see someone else... He changed his primary asap and the new MD sent him to ortho and pain management which is specialists who were treating him in NY). So back to today, my husband told the man on the phone he could not talk because he was at work and was given a phone # to call back when he could. He called the man back a few hours later and it went to voicemail saying this is "John at such and such clinical research facility" leave a message. DH didn't and told me later about call.

Well my DH works in advertising sales locally and it just so happens that "such and such research facility" is one of his clients. So not only did this doc give out his name, cell, and medical history to this research company, they gave it to one of his clients at work... The phone # that he called btw is in no way associated with the docs office and instead links to research company. I googled this company and they have multiple studies on back pain happening right now so I am assuming they were soliciting participants.

Am I completely wrong about this being a HUGE hipaa violation cause I feel like this is pretty bad news... And what the H-E double hockey sticks do we do now? These people are his clients and don't need to know his medical history! It's a fairly small company, 5 PIs, clinical staff of 20... How many other people I wonder are getting the same calls and don't know that their info has been exposed??? Lucky for us my DH told me and I told him not to accept any more calls from this man saying he works for the doc but this is completely wrong and a hipaa violation, is it not?

[CrissiQ]

Wow interesting... I find it strange that a doctors office would give out information without consent. Can your husband remember signing anything that would allow his information to given to a third party? It's been a while but I know when I last switch doctors they had a ton of paperwork they want signed.

[3dayRN]

Absolutely this is a violation. Maybe call the MD and DEMAND to find out how his information was given out without permission. How horrible.

Also, be prepared for all the high and mighty nurses that NEVER make a mistake and will be annoyed that you wrote HIPPA instead of HIPAA. Some people get soooooo annoyed about this :)

[Guest717236]

I would contact an attorney who specializes in medical/healthcare so

they can advise your husband on how to manage this violation of'

his health info. Especially as it could impact his job.

Very sorry,and this shows how important it is

to comply with HIPAA .

[demylenated, BSN, RN]

Sometimes doctors do have a "research" clause. Always be aware. Call and ask the doctor to review your info (ALL forms signed)... if you find it IMMEDIATELY revoke it in writing and verbally, and if you don't, speak to SOMEONE about it to get it to STOP NOW! Then call Hipaa if you desire, but def speak to the physician as well.

Also, re: Research clients, even though they are his "clients," they, too, have to abide by hipaa rules.

[kids]

It's most likely that buried in either the treatment agreement or HIPAA disclosure that he signed with the original doctor's office is information that that doctor refers people for clinical research and by signing he was consenting to such.

HIPAA in terms of clinical research is more complex than what we're used to as nurses.

http://privacyruleandresearch.nih.gov/clin_research.asp

The fact that the research facility is one of his clients is coincidental.

For future reference...always request a take home copy of anything you sign at a doctors office and when you stop seeing any physician always, always send a letter terminating the professional relationship and revoking all authorizations previously given for any purpose both expressed and implied.

[FLAtoNYC]

I CAN appreciate and I apologize for my error. You guys are really tough... I was really fired up and typing from my iphone really fast in the car. Thanks at least for reading my story and for the couple of responses that helped. I am sorry to have offended you ALL by my frenzied typing. I love allnurses and reading your stories and wanted to share mine cause I was so frustrated and annoyed. And I am sorry to have made some people upset. I happen to be a pretty great RN IMHO, and unfortunately I am also human and make mistakes. I hope that you can look past my error and help me figure out what to do.

[demylenated, BSN, RN]

I CAN appreciate and I apologize for my error. You guys are really tough... I was really fired up and typing from my iphone really fast in the car. Thanks at least for reading my story and for the couple of responses that helped. I am sorry to have offended you ALL by my frenzied typing. I love allnurses and reading your stories and wanted to share mine cause I was so frustrated and annoyed. And I am sorry to have made some people upset. I happen to be a pretty great RN IMHO, and unfortunately I am also human and make mistakes. I hope that you can look past my error and help me figure out what to do.

Um... it isn't that serious... the mistake that is. Not for most people Luckily there is no HIPPA to report to, so if you typed HIPPA into google, HIPAA would come up, so, I think you're safe from embarrassment

Hope you find out what happened... and revoke it ASAP.

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

I bet you a nickel there was something in the fine print your husband signed on first visit to the doctor that allows his records to be used for research purposes. I saw that in a recent new-doctor appointment I had. I crossed it out and initialed it.

I've seen such clauses on the consent for treatment page for hospitalization too.

Even so, if the caller identified himself as someone who works at the doctor's office, I find that misleading. Maybe he's doing his research at the doctor's office, maybe he's employed there, maybe not. That part bothers me.

As a sidenote, the researcher didn't say he was researching pain med abuse. He said he was researching usage. Maybe he's researching effectiveness of various medications or side effects.

About a decade ago I did some research on the use of demerol in an inpatient hospital through chart audits. Those records had the research clause on the consent for treatment form. My results named no names and identified no one.

The researcher could be on the up-and-up, but I'd want to know his credentials before continuing to talk to him, and I'd want them in writing. And, if it bothers your husband in the least, just don't do it at all!

[FLAtoNYC]

Dear Roser13,

I am very sorry for obviously offending you so severely that you felt the need to reply to not one, but two posts in a row regarding my error in misspelling hipaa. In fact, my embarrassment in my error is so great that I attempted to delete my post in it's entirety which is not an option, and to delete my account here completely, which is also not an option, so I must sit here with my head hanging low in sorrow over being a disgrace to the profession. I see that you have almost 2000 posts here on allnurses.com, and are presently a nurse educator, so I realize that you must be somewhat of a nurse expert, not only in your particular field, but in the vast world of internet nursing. I hope that my error that was made in frantic cell phone typing has not caused you any personal frustration or grief and that I have not made your many, many, many hours spent here or membership fees for allnurses any less valuable to you, as this is clearly a very large part of your life. I can only look into my past, and wish upon a star that I could go back in time and have the joy of experiencing you as a teacher to me so I could have become a much better nurse than the failure and embarrassment to the profession that I clearly am today. I also hope that in all of your internet ventures and in real life, you stay true to yourself and stand proud in the fact that you are a great representation of nurses around the world and will never, ever, make an error in frustration. I wish I could meet you in person so I could see what I may become if I could really put my all into my internet persona. Everyone needs a goal and I thank you with all my heart for taking just a minute out of your busy life to be such an inspiration so I can become a better person and nurse than I am today.

Thank you for everything...

ME

[LR59]

I had an MDs office give me a form labeled HIPPO OOPs:confused:

[greenfiremajick]

I CAN appreciate and I apologize for my error. You guys are really tough... I was really fired up and typing from my iphone really fast in the car. Thanks at least for reading my story and for the couple of responses that helped. I am sorry to have offended you ALL by my frenzied typing. I love allnurses and reading your stories and wanted to share mine cause I was so frustrated and annoyed. And I am sorry to have made some people upset. I happen to be a pretty great RN IMHO, and unfortunately I am also human and make mistakes. I hope that you can look past my error and help me figure out what to do.

Your response is a class act, FLA!