Am I violating the hippa law by saying to anyone that I know for an example " There was a lady at the office to today with HIV"but I never disclosed that patients name or anything else about that person. Am I violating the Hippa law by even saying that?

No, but you may be violating the rules of the office as well as medical ethics. You have no business discussing ANYTHING that you learn about people in your office to anyone else. If I was the office mgr and I found out about it, you would be fired immediately.

It is not a direct violation but it is not good business, and any office would normally still fire you for talking about this sort of discussion outside of the office.

You may say, yes we get HIV patients at the office but when you start getting specific you are getting closer to breaking rules

Thanks for the response. But to clarify I was just using that “aids” as an example. But to clarify, your only in direct violation of hippa when you get specific with names etc. That’s basically my question. And thank you for answering that!

Thanks for the response. But to clarify I was just using that “aids” as an example. But to clarify, your only in direct violation of hippa when you get specific with names etc. That’s basically my question. And thank you for answering that!

I think you are missing the point that Chuck and I tried to make. It would be a violation of business and professional ethics to discuss ANYTHING that happened in your place of business that refers to personal information. While it may not violate HIPAA, especially if no one specific is identified, its still wrong and could result in termination of employment.