guest998179

agreed.

As a support staffer, I'm part of a team that takes turns working in shifts at our healthcare facility. Our team is alerted to special situations (like emergencies, codes, etc) in which our support may be needed, and we get these alerts remotely. My coworker still had about 20 minutes on their shift before my shift began, when I got an alert about a code. I texted my coworker (on my personal phone) and wrote something like, "I saw the alert about the code at X hour, and wonder if I should come in, or if you were able to take care of it." I didn't mention room number or facility (of course my coworker knew the facility) nor patient name, and wonder if a message like this may be safe, I.e., not HIPAA violation?

Yes, of course, you're right. I felt awkward in being asked the question, and I felt more awkward in answering it (and thus, my concern). I'd agree that suggesting prayer is a highly personal thing, and can be presumptive or more. Thankfully, the other employee wasn't a stranger to me, but someone I know, and someone I knew wouldn't find prayer offensive. I appreciate your insight.

I appreciate this, and like your approach of answering in general terms. Do you think this would be true for, say, the staffer who regularly cleans a particular unit? Seems that because of the time they spend in their work, they get to know patients a bit and sometimes they do seem part of the "team." But back to my situation: the fellow employee I was describing in my initial question actually works throughout the facility, so isn't really part of the unit, but they were there to see/hear a lot of the activity and to likely be concerned for the patient. Do you think it's still okay to share with them a general comment? I'm afraid that in my fear of saying too much, I said too much - I think I may have also told them something about the fact that no family was there (guess I was thinking that because I hadn't spoken to loved ones, I had less of an idea of the patient's situation).

I'm a support staffer at a healthcare facility. Recently, during a critical situation, there were a lot of staff in one particular area, some working with that critical patient situation, and some NOT part of the care team but there to do their jobs in the vicinity. Because there was a lot of commotion, pretty much everyone in the area (care team or not), likely heard about the general nature of the patient's situation. I was part of the care team so I knew some things. Later, one of the employees who had been in the area (but who wasn't part of the care team) asked me, "How's that patient?" I knew this employee was well-meaning and cared (I think they'd picked up a lot by simply being in the area and overhearing some things), but I also knew that they were not one of the patient's care team, so I said, "I really can't tell you (meaning both "I know you're not part of the care team so I'm not gonna say" and "I don't know all the details, I'm the wrong one to ask"). They said, "Oh, you don't know?" And I tried to deflect (since I did know some things but couldn't say, for HIPAA reasons), saying, "Well, I haven't been back to the situation ... they'll let us know if they need us ... " and ended saying, "we can pray (for the person)." Any ideas on deflecting or addressing questions like this from (presumably) well-meaning fellow employees -- or simply being more assertive (and gracious) in refusing to answer?

Thank you so much for this. I felt better after thinking on it awhile, and your insight helps.

I'm an employee in a healthcare facility. Recently a patient asked me a question about their care plan. I knew about the plan and what it might mean for this patient's life, but didn't feel that I was the one to tell them because it wasn't my role (and I thought that what I knew may upset them), and so I said, "I don't know ... but you can ask (the right person from the right discipline/department)." I felt a bit compromising and uneasy about saying that I didn't know (when I did), so later I spoke to someone in another department to get some insight. The coworker I spoke to is not part of the patient's care team, so I did not mention the patient's name, unit, gender, but used generalities, telling them that a patient was concerned about (this particular issue, naming it), and that I was struggling with the appropriateness of my response, and this coworker gave me some advice on what I'd said. With the many patients in our midst, I really don't think this person will know which patient I was describing, but do you think my sharing my concern with this other staffer broke any HIPAA or confidentiality on the patient's behalf?

Exactly! Thank you :).

thanks, I was wondering if my being with the family member (as a supportive staff member) while they spoke, and my listening and reflecting with them on the situation about the patient (while those other visitors likely heard) makes me in violation of HIPAA.

I work as a support staff (not a nurse) in a medical facility. Recently, I was offering supportive listening to a family member of a patient who was quite upset about their loved one's situation. The conversation moved to an area where family members of other patients were sitting and could certainly hear what the family member was saying, and the family member spoke at length and in detail about that patient's condition, care, etc. Not long into the conversation, I asked the family member, thinking of the privacy issue, "would you like to go and talk somewhere more private?" But they said, no, they were just fine talking there. As we spoke, I didn't mention the name of patient, room number, and what I said was mostly empathic listening, encouragement, validation (and I tried to speak softly, to encourage the family member to do the same). I realize that next time, I will graciously steer such a discussion to a private place. But for now, I wonder: was HIPAA violated if it was the family member (who is also the POA), speaking in such a manner? Thank you.

Thank you for responding! I appreciate your input!

Thank you so much. I have my own (usually irrational) fears about HIPAA :). Thanks for your kind reply and reassurance!

I appreciate that. I'm not a nurse, but I am someone with regular patient contact and so I sometimes look to you nurses for feedback regarding things like this. Thank you again.

Recently some non-healthcare worker friends told me they feel as if there has been "a lot of irrational fear" about COVID. As someone who works in healthcare and has seen SO much death and sorrow from the virus, I responded, "Well, as someone who works in a hospital, I know that there has been a lot of death, that the fear is real, that it's been serious, and we've seen all across the country and world so much death from it." My friends know in which hospital I work, and while I didn't actually specify (and hope I didn't imply) that our hospital had a lot of C+ deaths, I wonder if what I said was somehow inappropriate. I mean, maybe they could have taken my statement about "someone who works in a hospital" to mean that I am privvy to more facts about the overall seriousness about the virus? Any thoughts? Thanks for reading.

While reading the posted, public obituaries, I saw a last name on one obit that got my interest. The (last) name rang a bell both because of a former patient's connection to it (which their family shared with me) -- and because that family name also has a distant connection to someone in my family. Also for reasons related to the person's age and interesting history, I wanted to read it. It is wrong, or even a HIPAA violation, to open that obit and read it, if it is shared publically?

Thanks everyone. To be clear, I'm not a nurse, but have constant patient contact in my role. I appreciate each of your comments as very good advice. Thanks again!

From time to time, I meet patients who have no one, or very few loved ones or encouragement. When they get transferred to another facility I am tempted to visit them, just to bring some TLC and fellowship to them. I haven't done this very often, since I'm too busy and since, for reasons of self-care, I feel it's best for the folks at the new place to care for them. Do any of you ever follow up and visit your patients if they go on to a new facility? Do you find any ethical conflict with this?

thanks for that clarification!

Saw a friend recently at a social function. This friend had had a procedure performed at a facility that is within the larger healthcare group at which I work. As they were describing their procedure, I asked who the doctor was who performed it, and they told me. Is this ok for me to do as long as it was just me and the friend speaking? I guess I wonder because while I don't work for THAT particular satellite office, I do work for a sister facility, and I don't know about that connection as it relates to speaking to this friend and HIPAA. Thank you. PS: I'm not a nurse, but have patient contact at our facility and so am always trying to steer clear of HIPAA problems.

Thank you!

Dear nurses, I appreciate your input on my paranoid Hipaa questions. I have another: I'm a non-medical staff with regular patient contact in a healthcare facility. Recently, a patient who has some confusion wanted to contact someone in their "circle" of people. This person had a list of names and numbers that family had given them so they could reach them when needed. Because this person is somewhat challenged physically, I offered to dial the number for them, and then handed them the phone. I was 99.9% sure that I'd dialed the number correctly, but I could hear the voice on the other end say that it was the wrong number. The patient didn't accept this at first, and went on to state their name (first and last) to the person and another family member's full name. The patient didn't say that they were a patient at the facility, but in today's caller-ID reality, I'm rather sure the person on the other end would see the name of our facility. So, given that the patient didn't say "Hello, I'm (full name) and I'm a patient at this facility", even though they stated their full name, would this be a privacy violation since they didn't speak to the person they intended to reach. Furthermore, am I at fault since I was the one who dialed the number?

Thanks very much! This gives me peace of mind :).

Non-medical employee of a health care facility here, very thankful to get your opinion on my HIPAA issues. Here's my question: after talking to a patient in the hallway of the facility, the patient bade me goodbye and I did the same, adding their first name (first name only, no last name). As I did this, a visitor walked by and may have heard that first name. Is my using that patient's first name a Hipaa problem seeing as how it was in the public hallway of our facility? Thank you!

thanks so much!

thanks, but even if my loved ones know where I work (and where the code/death took place)?