I have a situation which may not be unique. I was recently terminated for a HIPAA violation. The mother of a minor called the office I work in inquiring if I accessed her daughter's EMR. Apparently my name was associated with the chart on at least 2 different days. I am in a union. I was questioned by 2 people without representation and it was never offered. Because my name was associated I admitted to being in the chart but couldn't tell them why. Unfortunately I may have incriminated myself. The incident happened over 3 months ago, I was immediately suspended and then terminated 2 days later. I was not given any information as to what the charges were nor where in the chart I was. The union is looking into this on my behalf but not sure what my rights would be. When these charges are unfounded what recourse do I have either against the hospital or the mother? It is common practice for any of the nurses to be in charts of patient they're not taking care of. I worked in an office of 8 providers and we all worked as a team helping one another. It is also common for the laptops to freeze and use someone else's. Any advise would be appreciated. Thank you for your time

I'm not sure I follow what happened. Are you saying that office records show that you looked at this patient's records without permission. What was the proof that you did?

Was there any indication that the minor's info was revealed outside the office?

What does your union contract say about investigating violations?

1. you should not have answered without you union rep, you do not have to be told, and unless the contract says they have to ask, they don't have to ask, you have the right to ask for the rep

If you looked at the chart, then you should know why, if you don't remember even looking at the chart, why did you lie and say you looked at it ?

How did the mother know you looked at it, what caused her to call and complain, did you tell someone about what you saw in the charts

Just a little bit of background on me before I answer your question. I am a registered nurse working in a hospital. I am also HIPAA trained.

Okay, now to answer your question...


what recourse do i have either against the hospital or the mother?

You have no recourse. You admitted to accessing the record which, in and of itself, is a HIPAA violation.


It is common practice for any of the nurses to be in charts of patient they're not taking care of.

Absolutely not! Again, it is a violation to access the records of any patient you are not in direct care of. For example, I am a labor and delivery nurse. I can only access the records of the patient's current admission. If, by chance, they had been admitted to my facility prior to the current admission, I am forbidden to access their previous admissions.


It is also common for the laptops to freeze and use someone elses.

All computers/laptops should have individual passwords for every employee. Each employee should be logged off when the computer/laptop is not in use.

OK, let's see if I can clarify some of your questions. It is part of the union contract for it to be offered before someone is questioned (although I did not know this at the time). I realized you're not supposed to "share" computers but it does happen, I'm in many different charts because of labs, u/s and other proceedures and if the provider asks me to look something up. To my knowledge there are key strokes accosiated with my name with in the chart. The union is still investigating. I was not given any detail when I was questioned. To be quite honest I was scared to death and not thinking clearly. I really don't know what prompted the call, I hadn't had contact with these people since March and took a position in another office. I never discussed pt outside the office. However this pt was a friend of my daughter's. But nothing was ever discussed. This is personal, I know that although I still don't know why. I have know this woman for more than 20 years and we have never had a problem.

I'm still not clear here. Did you, in fact, access those records? Because, if you did, especially since you had a personal relationship with the patient, then you violated HIPAA. If, on the other hand, your claim is that you did not access the records, but your name on log was because someone else used your logon, you will have to prove that.

OK, let's see if i can clarify some of your questions. It is part of the union contract for it to be offered before someone is questioned (although i did not know this at the time). I realized you're not supposed to "share" computers but it does happen, I'm in many different charts because of labs, u/s and other proceedures and if the provider asks me to look something up. To my knowledge there are key strokes accosiated with my name with in the chart. The union is still investigating. I was not given any detail when I was questioned. To be quite honest I was scared to death and not thinking clearly. I really don't know what prompted the call, I hadn't had contact with these people since March and took a position in another office. I never discussed pt outside the office. However this pt was a friend of my daughter's. But nothing was ever discussed. This is personal, I know that although I still don't know why. I have know this woman for more than 20 years and we have never had a problem.

Okay, had you given us THIS information in the beginning, my answer may very well have been quite different. You see, we only answer according to the info given.

With that said, I've worked all night and have to get some sleep. I'll talk to the "powers that be" at my facility tonight to see what they have to say about this situation.

I appreciate any advise you can give or get. Thank you so much for you time

I can't imagine why I would access the resords unless someone asked me to. I usually stay away from people I know personally for this exact reason. I don't know how to "prove" it was not me.

Lessons learned for the future

1. if you are not sure, say not sure, don't confess

2. no people don't share computers on secure medical networks, you log out and they are forced to log in to use your computer. Just leaving your computer on and walking away is a violation