A nurse I work with/supervise, called a family member to let them know she was being sent to the hospital. The family member asked, "who is being sent to the hospital?" and she told her the resident's name. The family member then stated, that is not my mother's name. The nurse then apologized to the family member and stated, "I'm sorry, I had the wrong chart in front of me and I called by mistake." The family member was upset and stated, that is a violation of HIPAAA. How much trouble can she be in for this violation-without intent to give out this information to the wrong third party?

This is a very gray area in HIPAA. Mistakes happen. Reports get faxed to wrong numbers, phone calls get made to wrong numbers, etc.

Was there any permanent harm done? Nah. Should she be reprimanded? Probably so. A write up in her file would possibly be the way to go.

I have been through so much of that HIPAA junk it makes me sick just hearing about it. People make mistakes, that's life and that is what humans do. I think MAYBE a write up is the only thing that should be done to this nurse for her negligent action of not double checking the chart, however I think that is as far as it should go. Whoever the person was on the other end of the line doesn't sound as if they are very pleasant to begin with