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    steph1964's Avatar
    steph1964 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Aug 17, 2010, 02:50 PM
    Does looking up a co-workers family's obituary violate hipaa?
    I had to leave the state last week for a funeral. One of my co-workers looked online to
    Find the obituary to see if he actually died and when. She took this to my superviser to
    Discuss. Since we work in a medical office and she did this at work and on the employers
    Computer, does it violate hipaa?
    Thank you,
    Stephanie Short
    J_9's Avatar
    J_9 Posts: 40,298, Reputation: 5646
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    #2

    Aug 17, 2010, 02:55 PM

    It does not violate HIPAA because this was an obituary in the local paper and is a public notice/record.
    Fr_Chuck's Avatar
    Fr_Chuck Posts: 81,301, Reputation: 7692
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    #3

    Aug 17, 2010, 06:33 PM

    Also they were not looking at your records, ( hospital)
    What they were looking at is public internet records.

    You can research anyone you want from public records
    Devorameira's Avatar
    Devorameira Posts: 2,461, Reputation: 981
    Ultra Member
    		  
    #4

    Aug 21, 2010, 05:51 AM

    This does not violate any laws. The obituary was on-line and most likely in a newspaper which is available for everyone to read.
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