I am a mental health casemanager and my supervisor found an unsigned consent which had some of my consumer's information in her file. In an effort to be more efficient I had made copies of with no consumer signature and no information as to what agency/person the consent would be used for. I planned on using these consents if the consumer would need a new consent done, not without their permission. I figured the consent is invalid not illegal unless it is signed and dated by the consumer. There was no date next to my signiture. The consent was in a file specific to this consumer which was locked in my file cabinet.

My supervisor states that this is illegal and that he has to turn me over to the agency attorneys, which he has already done.

In response to this, I went into his office and took pictures of all the paperwork he has scattered around his desk and bulletin board which has personal information about our consumers. I figure if he is planning on holding me accountable for actually trying to be efficient, then he should at least be somewhat accountable.

We have had brief HIPPA training at our agency but is what I did illegal and can I be terminated from my employment based on copying my own signature, and in order to have a consent be legal do you have to have a witness sign it in addition to the consumer?
Am I in violation of a HIPPA law for making photocopies of my signiture on a line marked witness?

I don't see a violation here if there is no patient information on the copies you made. I do, however, see that this is an illegal practice. A consent must not only be signed by the patient, or client (not consumer), but also by a witness. This witness signature must be in ink and not a photocopy. What you did opens the door for anyone to grab a photocopy to be signed by any patient and it will leave you liable for any possible litigation.

Oh, and by the way, it is HIPAA not HIPPA.

I don't see a violation here if there is no patient information on the copies you made. I do, however, see that this is an illegal practice. A consent must not only be signed by the patient, or client (not consumer), but also by a witness. This witness signature must be in ink and not a photocopy. What you did opens the door for anyone to grab a photocopy to be signed by any patient and it will leave you liable for any possible litigation.

Oh, and btw, it is HIPAA not HIPPA.

Thank you. Can't anyone photocopy my signiture if they wanted? I guess I feel I have no authority as a casemanager and that if you wanted to use my signiture you'd have to be pretty desperate. On the other hand I will not photocopy my signature again.

What about posting a crisis report on your bulletin board like my supervisor? Isn't that pretty flagrant violation of HIPAA(notice the corrected acronym)?

Also I noticed my personnel file and all of the other case managers files are on top of his filing cabinet, the door is never locked and anyone who wants to walk into his office can just go in there and look through all of our files, or make changes to our files. Do you think this is grounds for a greivance?

I don't see a violation here if there is no patient information on the copies you made. I do, however, see that this is an illegal practice. A consent must not only be signed by the patient, or client (not consumer), but also by a witness. This witness signature must be in ink and not a photocopy. What you did opens the door for anyone to grab a photocopy to be signed by any patient and it will leave you liable for any possible litigation.

Oh, and btw, it is HIPAA not HIPPA.

Wouldn't it be professional courtesy to inform me that this is illegal instead of reporting me to the commissioners/attorneys?
Somehow litigation sounds more ominous than a HIPAA violation, could I be terminated?
Just as well if I am, I'm done with this place. I think they've squeezed the last bit of enthusiasm for actually helping out of me. There's no cooperation at this agency.

Also, I wanted to add that the reason this particular consent wasn't signed by the consumer is that she did not want me talking to the landlord at the time and refused to sign this consent at the time. She wanted to think about it. The consent had her name, SS#, BSU, and my signature, but no dates or the landlords name. I guess that because there isn't enough time to accomplish the work in my caselaod and I'm so overwhelmed that I don't have the time to really be careful. Pretty much just do as much as I can with as little supervision as possible and hope nobody else dies or that I don't get fired.

Also, I wanted to add that the reason this particular consent wasn't signed by the consumer is that she did not want me talking to the landlord at the time and refused to sign this consent at the time. She wanted to think about it. The consent had her name, SS#, BSU, and my signature, but no dates or the landlords name. I guess that because there isn't enough time to accomplish the work in my caselaod and I'm so overwhelmed that I don't have the time to really be careful. Pretty much just do as much as I can with as little supervision as possible and hope nobody else dies or that I don't get fired.

Again, client is more professional than consumer, in your type of business.

If you don't have the time to be "really careful," this may not be the profession for you.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but in the medical field, including but not limited to mental health, being careful is extremely important.


Pretty much just do as much as I can with as little supervision as possible and hope nobody else dies or that I don't get fired.

You didn't really say this did you?