Posting EKG's Potential Hipaa violation

[Just Plain Ruff]

ok, in a facebook thread today, someone brought up that posting a 12 lead or just a ECG tracing is a hipaa violation even though you black out the patient name and identifiers.  

NO, you say it isn't, say it aint so!!.  Well actually it is according to the article I will post below.  

The event ID of the tracing of the 12 lead specifically identifies the patient, not by name but by piece of equipment and a specific patient and can be used to trace it back to that specific patient, and in effect IS a hipaa violation, 

 

Here is a great article that was posted to this facebook thread:

http://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/126200/how-avoid-data-breaches-hipaa-violations-when-posting-patients-protected

 

Your cardiac monitor identifier numbers related to number 18, and even if you get rid of the first 17, a resourceful person, albeit not very bloody likely, could connect the monitor identifier, patient identifier back to the patient and thus hit you with a Hipaa violation. 

 

Advice on this situation - BLACK OUT all identifiers in the top and the bottom of the EKG tracing when you post it to facebook for a case study or you post it here.  

The facebook thread I was on even said that many of the EKG review sites and case study sites have as a rule for posting that ALL identifying numbers and codes, names and any other numeric identifiers be removed prior to posting or the post will be deleted.  

It's a one in a million chance that someone will connect the dots, but do you want to be that 1 instead of the 999,999?  I sure don't.  

Be safe out there.