I just got a call from a friend that asked me this question.

She wasn't feeling well and needed to go to the emergency room. She'd had a very bad experience in the local emergency room, so she went to one 1 hour away. They gave her meds and sent her on her way. On the way back, she & her husband stopped at a store and ran into the board president from where she works. She asked how she was and she told her she'd just left the emergency room and she was feeling a lot better. Well, this person went back to work... looked up her information and discovered that she hadn't gone to the emergency room (she was looking at the hospital that she didn't go to). In my opinion, this is a direct HIPPA Violation, as she was going in to get information that wasn't any of her business. The women then called my friends boss and said, "She didn't go to the hospital...I looked it up." What's your feel on it? She has proof she went to the other hospital, but the board president looking up her PERSONAL information just because she works at the hospital, bad... bad... bad.

The board president works for this closer hospital and accessed medical records without authorization? Then what you do is call the HR department of the hospital with proof that this was done and report it.

Yes it is a violation for anyone to access records when it is not required by their job. And the place to report is their employer. You can also report it through the HIPAA web site.

You can go to [email protected] in order to download the paperwork to file a violation. You may also call the OCR toll free 1-866-627-7748 for any assistance you might need to file papers, the (OCR) Office of Civil Rights, enforces HIPAA regulations and complaints.
Best of luck
C. Elizabeth Grant

You can go to [email protected] in order to download the paperwork to file a violation.

Umm that's an e-mail adddress, you can't download anything from that. As I said, you can file a complaint through the HIPAA web site:

How To File a Complaint (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/index.html)

OK I normally agree with Scott but I'm getting a different read. Board president is Pres. At hospital A,where she did not go. He looked up admissions records and found none. So he acessed no records of this friend of yours. No violation here but we could use a better description of the Board Presidents job description.

OK I normally agree with Scott but I'm getting a different read. Board president is Pres. at hospital A,where she did not go. He looked up admissions records and found none. So he acessed no records of this friend of yours. No violation here but we could use a better description of the Board Presidents job description.

I was bothered by this as well. But the way I read it, the president looked up hospital records for personal use and not as part of their job. Even though she didn't find any records for the OP's friend, the act of looking up those records IS a violation.

I understand but we do not know the President's job description and/or duties. I too have suspicions of what was on the mind of the President but it's a guess it was for personal use, plus he attempted to find a record that does not exist. If anything, the hospital is guilty of allowing his attempted access, they are the gatekeepers for the records not the Pres. he was the gate crasher.

Yes, but I believe HIPAA is clear that any attempt to access a patient's record when it's not directly related to providing care to that patient would be a violation. Plus we have the fact, that the information, even though negative was passed along to a third party without the permission of the patient.

This should be reported. If the hospital HR or HIPAA rules its not a violation that's one thing. I don't think they will.

ran into the board president from where she works.

Could you please clear this up for me? Does the person in question (the patient) work at a hospital?

Could you please clear this up for me? Does the person in question (the patient) work at a hospital?

That is not clear, are you asking to determine if this is a human resources issue within the hospital? That could have a bearing.

It appears the board president she ran into does work for a hospital. And, In my opinion, that's the key point. An employee of the hospital, used their access to hospital records to search for records for personal reasons. Then imparted the information they found to a third party. If that is the case, then a violation occurred. Unless the OP returns to clarify we can only speculate further.

That is not clear, are you asking to determine if this is a human resources issue within the hospital? That could have a bearing. Unless the OP returns to clarify we can only speculate further.

Yes, Scott, I want clarification before I respond further.

Thank you... I'll pass it on. She really feels violated. She went to the hospital, but not that one and for her to do that to her just really upset her. She had trouble at our local hospital (she almost died there) and didn't want to go there for obvious reasons. Have a good day.

You really should read ALL your responses. The response from CE Grant had some errors in that were corrected in other responses.

There is also some question about exactly what happened here that were raised by other posters.

My suggestion is for you to drop this discussion and let your friend speak for herself. You can do nothing but advise, is she asking for your help? From my understanding on the covered entity, hospital, could be found at fault if this story is 100% accurate. For Consumers (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html)

Hmm, you come back and rate the answers, but don't provide the clarifications we asked for.