I was attacked by a neighbors pitbull a few weeks ago. When I went to the emergency room I gave the registration nurse all of my contact information home#, mobile#, work#. They were given my place of employment and my hours. Thursday of last week after my shift was over a nurse called my employer who had her on speakerphone. (this is a normal practice in my position). The nurse asked for me and begin to tell an office of ~500 people why she was calling. She stated that she called to see how the dogs was doing. That a dog had bitten me in the back of my right leg near my buttocks. She sais she was calling to see if the dog was cleared from the rabies quarantine. All of this on speaker phone with 500 colleagues listening in. No attempt was ever made to call any other of my contact numbers even to this day. My employer did not have any information about the attack of condition of the dog. Now my employer knows my medical condition and I have an office full of colleagues laughing and making jokes about me. It is becoming unbearable to come to work now. Please provide some guidance. Ask if I need to provide more detail. Thank You in advance!

M

First, your boss should have immediately shut the speaker or informed the caller that she was on speaker. That was rude of him.

This may be a HIPAA violation. But its not clear whether the nurse was aware that she was on speaker. You said she asked for you. Did you answer and say that you were on the line? Why didn't you take it off speaker once you knew who was calling? Unless the nurse was aware that other people might be able to hear, then there was no violation.

Even if there was a violation, what do you want to do about it. You have 3 choices. You can either do nothing since the damage is done. Or you can get a measure of revenge by reporting this violation to the hospital administrator. Or you can report it to the agency that enforces HIPAA so they can investigate and, possibly, fine the hospital.

I would report it to the administrator, because this nurse needs to know that was unacceptable and illegal.

Well first of all your employer should immediately have taken it off speakerphone. Why did he not do that ? Especially after finding out it was of a pesonal nature regarding one of his employees. Although the nurse made a bad decision calling your work, she did not realize probably she was on speakerphone.

I can't really say this was a HIPAA violation.

Ms tickle

It wasn't my boss that answered the phone, it was my counterpart on second shift. I do agree about the speakerphone piece and it was totally unprofessional, however some people are nosey and I believe this is what happened in this case. Please don't harp on this I'm just asking is there and recourse for defamation of character?

We can't not harp on the speakerphone issue since its integral to the situation. If the nurse was not aware that anyone else was on the line, then she didn't violate HIPAA.

As for defamation of character, where does that come from? How was your character defamed? Weren't you, in fact bitten?

We can't not harp on the speakerphone issue since its integral to the situation. If the nurse was not aware that anyone else was on the line, then she didn't violate HIPAA.

As for defamation of character, where does that come from? How was your character defamed? Weren't you, in fact bitten?


The nurse called my counterpart and disclosed my medical condition to them on 2nd shift. No other call was made from anyone at the healthcare provider asking or disclosing the inforamtion to any other of my contact numbers. Only my work phone after hours. The whole office heard it and now make fun of me and are leaving items on my desk that are not kind. Its all in fun to them because we have a laid back environment but if this nurse didn't disclose my condition then I would not have to be dealing with the harassment...

Again, if the nurse KNOWINGLY disclosed the information to someone other than yourself, then there was a HIPAA violation. And you have the three options I mentioned.

As for the harassment at work, that's your employer's problem. If you want that to stop, then talk to your employer.

But I see no defamation issue, unless its against your colleagues who are harassing you. Even then a successful suit is unlikely since the incident actually happened. And such a suit would certainly affect your working relationships.

But the nurse is not responsible for any defamation. She maybe be responsible for the HIPAA violation and that's all.

I agree that it is all about if the nurse knew she was on speaker phone which you can often tell because there is usually a hollow echoy sound when you are.

You might want to tell the nurse that she needs to be more cautious about keeping calls confidential.

OK sounds good, thanks for the advice.