Ask Me Help Desk - HIPAA vs Facebook

I was in a local hospital where an employee clearly showed an interest in me more than just a patient. After being discharged, I have received two friend requests on Facebook from him. I never once gave him my first and last name so he had to get this from my medical record at the hospital. Even though I deleted the first request, he has sent another one. I know this has to be a violation of some sort as it was not invited behavior. Any advice/insight much appreciated.

I would say no, at least at any of the hospitals here ( and I visit them often) the patient name is on the door, public, Plus your name is not health information and the employee has not given any of that info out.

Next when did you notify them that the behavior is not invited. Assuming they are interested in romance, this is how it works, they try to contact you. If you have no interest you tell them. After you tell them, and they still try to contact that is when it has went too far.

I see no real issue other than you are making more out of this than you should.

Other than thinking it is inappropriate behavior, I haven't made anything out of it but ask a question. I do greatly appreciate the time you took to share your insight and thank you for shining a new light on it for me. Thanks!

HIPAA (not hippa) covers the confidentiality of medical information. Since no medical information has been misused there is no HIPAA violation.

However, this can very much be considered a breach of medical ethics. For a medical provider to contact a patient outside of the need for medical treatment is stepping over the line.

So the next question is what do you want to do about it? Personal I would delete the second request, but make it a three strikes deal. If he doesn't get the message this time, then the third request gets a response that tells him you have no interest in pursuing a friendship with him of any kind and any further attempts to contact you will be reported to his employer.

If that doesn't stop him, then report it.

Thanks for your response Scott. Medical ethics does make more sense for sure. When I was discussing it with some friends, you know, the one's that think they know everything, they suggested it was a HIPAA issue. I was figuring it was definitely questionable behavior, but wasn't sure what it would fall under. Due to several other things that were said during my stay, I will probably file a complaint with the hospital and let them handle it as they see fit. Thanks for your time and knowledge!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

HIPAA (not hippa) covers the confidentiality of medical information. Since no medical information has been misused there is no HIPAA violation.

However, this can very much be considered a breach of medical ethics. For a medical provider to contact a patient outside of the need for medical treatment is stepping over the line.

So the next question is what do you want to do about it? Personal I would delete the second request, but make it a three strikes deal. If he doesn't get the message this time, then the third request gets a response that tells him you have no interest in pursuing a friendship with him of any kind and any further attempts to contact you will be reported to his employer.

If that doesn't stop him, then report it.

Was this person involved directly with your medical care? Such as a nurse, lab tech, or radiologist for example? If not, it was indeed a HIPAA violation.