Reddit and HIPAA

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Specializes in Emergency Room, Trauma ICU.

So I was browsing through nursing on reddit and a new grad posted about a med error they caught. Unfortunately they also gave the time frame the pt was admitted, the pts age, gender, admit diagnosis, etc. What are the chances this is truly a HIPAA violation? I'm all for posting on social media, but the OP could have easily told their story without so much patient detail.

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I agree.

It's okay to tell stories but don't give every detail away! You never know who is using the boards.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
So I was browsing through nursing on reddit and a new grad posted about a med error they caught. Unfortunately they also gave the time frame the pt was admitted, the pts age, gender, admit diagnosis, etc. What are the chances this is truly a HIPAA violation? I'm all for posting on social media, but the OP could have easily told their story without so much patient detail.

2 identifiers.....just 2 identifiers ....YES it's HIPAA! the best policy about social media? KEEP YOUR PATIENTS BUSINESS OFF OF IT!!!!!!!!!

As far as being a student....many schools have adopted very strict social media policies that if violated result in expulsion.

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Yes! I really can't believe someone would put anything like that in writing, anywhere! I was also very surprised when a local newspaper published a story about a nurse and her experiences with pt families. They had major details and ran a photo of the nurse. If my family member had been her pt, I would be very upset that she discussed the case in the media and it certainly seemed like a HIPPA violation...

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HIPAA indeed. Some people just aren't meant to use the internet...

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Specializes in Emergency Room, Trauma ICU.

Luckily they took it down, even though they said it wasn't a HIPAA violation, sigh. It's sad cause just a two second look at the posters history shows what state and city they live in plus the type of facility they work at. I learned the hard way, but come on, people really need to stop posting about patients!!!

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Some people are stuck in the habit of oversharing on social media sites-- even if that information is not theirs to share. A good rule of thumb is to always assume that privacy filters are meaningless. Because they are. And simply hitting delete or hiding behind a filter will not make a lick of difference when HIPAA comes a knockin' at your door. What is posted will always remain on your hands; unfortunately, this is a critical concept of the internet that many of its users do not understand.

The best policy? Don't talk about your patients. Simplest way to solve it!

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