Boolah

I thank you all for your responses. It would seem that HIPAA will curtail any curiosity or learning about real situations and patients responses to treatment. Well, I am too busy to obsess over it, but I think it is a shame. It's not the same as accessing a famous person's medical records to gah-gah (boy, you'd think those nurses would have learned by now!) Thank you for pointing out the scope of practice for the admissions clerk. I hadn't considered that. That's helpful. There is a lot of info that the clerks know from just doing their jobs, without even discussing anything about a patient. Trust me, they're in the know anyway. The aspect of HIPAA that I dislike most is not being able to tell a relative how the patient is feeling by telephone. I have been cursed at and have had to listen to very bitter people who cannot get around my HIPAA routine. And the follow-up phone calls by alternate relatives are time consuming. And, I dislike hearing, "Everybody else tells me. You're the only one!" Okay, I'm the devil....but I'm not getting fired because of HIPAA...sorry! Anyway, thank you again.

Are these HIPAA violations? 1) Nurse has taken care of patient to include monitoring lab values. Next shift, patient is not assigned to her, but she wants to know how the patient did regarding lab draws occurring after her shift ended. So, she accesses the medical file to monitor the lab values, or other aspects of follow-up care. Is this a HIPAA violation? 2) In a small nursing home, the admissions clerk (not a nurse), joins in the case management meetings regarding patients. She then is able to confront a relative with a judgement regarding the patient's condition ("the patient is 150% better," versus the MD telling the closest relative that the patient should be hospiced). Is this a HIPAA violation? Are admissions clerks privileged to know the ongoing medical condition of nursing home patients? Does the original act of admitting a patient (and knowing why they are there) continue to extend the privilege throughout a stay? This has broader implications for general ward clerks in an acute care setting (you know you tell your clerk everything--she runs the unit :bowingpur) I honestly don't know the answers, and I would appreciate some direction. Thank you.