Hey Baby, You Look Sexy In That C-Collar

[Doczilla]

Obtaining her phone number and following up on her condition is NOT a HIPAA violation. We do this as a matter or routine in our hospitals here. The medic was a care provider for the patient, and therefore has a right to know her contact info. Follow-up calls are an important QA tool, as well as a customer service tool. If he is "just" calling her for a date, it's a HIPAA violation.

To the second point, we are in an ethical gray zone. The medical board has held that it is not illegal or unethical for a doctor to enter a personal relationship with a patient, so long as he clearly terminates the physician patient relationship, and this does not overlap with the personal relationship. If he continues to treat her medically, he will have his license suspended or revoked. If he trades prescriptions for sex, then he's never getting it back.

What about treating friends or family members? The medical board has taken the stance that it is not kosher except in emergencies or minor illness. In a small community, it may be difficult for the medic to not be the care provider if the patient calls 911. That said, effort should be made, for example having his partner care for her if feasible.

That said, I think he's a creep. If he never called any other patient but this one, he'd have a hard time successfully arguing the medical necessity of calling her, and I would hope the chief gives him the boot.

'zilla

[island emt]

Gotta go along with Doc on this one, 100% accurate.

Happy Turkey day folks

[DwayneEMTP]

...If he is "just" calling her for a date, it's a HIPAA violation....

Doc, can you quote the language from the document that makes it so? I can't find anything that they could use to make that legal case....but perhaps I'm missing it.

Again, he hasn't transmitted any protected in formation, and even if he did so, it was only to the patient involved.

I didn't see a clause there for illegal use of information in regards to dating.

I get it if you don't have time to find it, but I think you're wrong on this, or at least if you're not, I can't find the language in HIPAA that makes you right.

Dwayne

[Richard B the EMT]

Contacting the hospital for updates on conditions of a patient transported would seem to be within HIPAA, but contacting the patient directly without the permission of said patient goes into dangerous territory.

[DwayneEMTP]

Contacting the hospital for updates on conditions of a patient transported would seem to be within HIPAA, but contacting the patient directly without the permission of said patient goes into dangerous territory.

No question Brother, but I'm still looking for the language that they would use to burn him with..

Dwayne

[hatelilpeepees]

You do not have to transmit information to be a violation. It is how you use the information. I could steal 100 social security numbers and never transmit them, I am still wrong. You only have the right to use PMI to treat the patient during that one event, anything beyond the treatment of that specific illness or injury is a violation

[DwayneEMTP]

You do not have to transmit information to be a violation. It is how you use the information. I could steal 100 social security numbers and never transmit them, I am still wrong. You only have the right to use PMI to treat the patient during that one event, anything beyond the treatment of that specific illness or injury is a violation

Could you please, please, please post the part of HIPAA that states this instead of just repeating the same unsupported shit over and over?

Dwayne

[Eydawn]

Removed her negative. You aren't going to win the "Where's the exact wording damn it all" argument because NOBODY can agree on how to interpret said wording. Stop being a Nazi, and pay attention to the reality of this situation... (said with love, Dwayne...)

Now, I know these links are nursing specific, but please take a look at the scenarios listed therein, especially in the first link. HOLY SHIT, they can get you for ANYTHING these days. Some of these are really really innocuous, and yet people were censured by boards of nursing and expelled from school over some of these incidents.

https://www.ncsbn.org/Social_Media.pdf

http://www.nursingworld.org/socialnetworkingtoolkit

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[paramedicmike]

Dwayne,

I've been thinking about this thread a bit. I think there's some confusion over the idea of the transmission of information and what that entails.

HIPAA applies to those entities that transmit their data electronically. For those organizations that transmit their data electronically there are guidelines with regards to what information must be protected. That protection is not limited only to the transmission of the data but also to on site security to protect it from those who don't need to see it.

In this particular case, if the ambulance services transmits any covered transactions electronically (furnishing of a bill, billing or receipt of payment) then the rules covering what information is to be protected applies. Failure to protect that information constitutes a violation.

Applying that to the medic in question requires knowing what the motivation or intent of the follow up call involved. If he was legitimately calling as a QA follow up then continued access to the information would be permitted. The minute that part of the conversation ended, however, should have been the end of the follow up conversation. The second he asked her out he crossed the line to an improper use and/or failed protection of arguably identifiable patient information which would constitute a violation of the statute even though he legitimately had access to it in a professional context as her care provider. Language that would address this is posted in the link Ruff provided earlier in this thread.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm reading your argument as saying that only the information that is transmitted electronically is protected. Is that right? If so then it's not just the data being transmitted that needs protecting. It's also needs protecting on site. And that's where the problem arises. Since HIPAA mandates that potentially identifiable information, such as a phone number, must be protected both on site and during transmission, using the information obtained for anything other than business (e.g. asking for a date) would constitute a violation.

Does this make sense? Or am I not reading you right?

[mobey]

When you are brought to task in the U.S. are you judged by a panel of your peers?