HIPPA Violation

[Christinamo7 4,042]

I am always somewhat amused by the irony of someone chastising and berating someone else because they feel the person chastised and berated someone else. pot, meet kettle..................

I am sorry this happened to the OP. I hope it turns out to be a blessing anyway, even if it is not the way you wanted things to go.

[koddie 44]

I work as a therapist and take HIPPS very serious. Even u have potential law suit if u wanted to go this far. I would rather have an apology and my surgery. But they do owe u an apology as I haven't told ppl n my office and would be VERY UPSET and embarrassed

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[koddie 44]

First I spoke to the office staff. I asked them to find out who faxed the info and what line did they use. Our numbers in the office bounce, so if a fax is busy it could be bounced anywhere. At first she said she didn't know. Then I told her that it was essentially faxed to a public fax without my knowledge and a HIPPA violation, and if she didn't know what number, she better find out fast. Then the nurse I have been dealing with came on the line. She was so apologetic, she didn't do the faxing. She gave me the fax number so I could track it. I work in healthcare and my doctors office is part of the same hospital system that I work for. I know our policy is immediate dismissal for such a violation and no grey area. HIPPA violated, good bye.

In answer to the first poster who responded, as I told the nurse, my intent is not to get someone fired, but they need to get a clue!

You posted that you work within the same hospital system as the office where the fax came from.

If you look at your HIPPA documentation there is a statement in there that there is a relaxing of HIPPA rules when "communicating within the same hospital systems, and their representatives."

Was there some mistakes made? Yup.--on both sides. In this day and age, no one should never fax personal information that you want to keep confidential--unless you KNOW that the fax is going to a PRIVATE fax machine/computer.

Once again, I have to question the reasoning of "hiding" one's bariatric surgery?? Are you ashamed of having it?? --afraid of what others with think?? Does it really matter? Aren't we all supposed to be having WLS for OURSELVES??

Especially those of us who work or have worked in the Healthcare field. I would hope that we would want to set an example.--to stand up proudly that we had the courage and determination to conquer our "disease demons".

I find absolutely nothing to hide nor be ashamed of by having WLS. Once we try to hide it, cover it up or lie about it, --that is when the spider web of telling two lies to cover up one lie and so on and so on. I don't know about you all, but my memory isn't good enough to remember what lie I told to whom.

Getting back to the faxing fiasco:

Lesson learned by all involved--I hope.

Why ask if she is embarrassed for having the surgery and why is hiding it. I'm a certified therapist and there is nothing shameful about telling or hiding. It's personal preference. And as a therapist....... I'm hiding not because I'm ashamed. I'm hiding it because I don't want ppl giving me opinions I didn't ask for

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[Dawnie Doo 184]

OMG I would be mortified! I would definitely report the violation! Ask your Dr for their HIPAA info and call the number in that info to report. They HAVE to provide you with that information.

Dawnie_doo

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I completely agree with the original poster - she should be upset her medical stuff was faxed like that!!! ALL medical things are private and we get to choose if and whom to tell.

I apologize for the completely ridiculous allegations that you are a thief and don't have a right to privacy - it is NOT representative of the bariatric pal community so I hope you don't let it keep you from seeking support here.

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[ocgirl15 667]

Oh for the love of God.....

- I was upset that my weight for the past 5 years and the fact that I was having bariatric surgery was plastered all over my very large office. Thank goodness it wasn't what it could have been, an embarrassing disaster. I don't share my weight with others, don't know about you. I posted for support. I have gotten some very interesting/ strange comments. I was UPSET. needed a little emotional support from some people that can understand.

- I did not commit a theft since we are allowed to use the fax for personal reasons as well. A blank form was faxed by me to my primary. No confidential info on this end was faxed. With it was a letter requesting they call me when done and I would pick up papers in person. No call, just a fax to a department in my office was received with an entire year of my office visit record. They had a fax number on file to my company. They blatantly disregarded my letter. I'm upset, but recognize mistakes are made.

- hiding surgery? When I go out on a leave I NEVER need to tell my boss. I need to have paperwork filled out by my surgeon and it would go through my HR leave team. It is confidential and my boss does not need to be told why and can not ask me why. Whether I am uncomfortable telling them or not is no ones business. But for the record, if they know they will try to have me delay. I work in healthcare and just about anyone in healthcare right now knows how tough things are going. We have limited staff and my job is a specialty. I have been waiting for them to get me help for over a year with no real end in sight. My need to keep it quiet has nothing to do with being embarrassed and everything to do with what is best for me.

I really didn't want to explain all of that, but I was really surprised by some of the comments. So, have at it. I'm done.

Mary you got my full support and you have every right to be mad and upset with the HIPPA violation and with some of the opinions expressed earlier. You have the right to take any action that will make you feel better regarding the violation. Most people don't have personal faxes..... Doctor should always assume fax machine is public. What if you had used Staples or another public copy center? They messed up big time! Most reasonable people want to keep their medical info private which is why HIPPA exist. What if the protected info was your latest STD diagnosis, pregnancy results, hysterectomy, surgery for hemmoroids, treatment for drug overdose. Why should WLS be less private? I am glad Valentina is proud of her WLS surgery choice......am too and hopefully you will be as well. For those of us that chose to keep our surgery largely private it is not because we are ashamed. The people whose opinions matter the most and that I love the most DO KNOW! I don't understand how telling general acquaintances and people who could care less will help me on journey. Your need for privacy is a personal choice and not an indication that your are in some way ashamed. I hope this matter gets resolved. Please keep us posted.

[IrishGermanRN 151]

I am always somewhat amused by the irony of someone chastising and berating someone else because they feel the person chastised and berated someone else. pot, meet kettle..................

I am sorry this happened to the OP. I hope it turns out to be a blessing anyway, even if it is not the way you wanted things to go.

My thoughts exactly

and I'm tired of the PC overused word "shaming"

[Mary2016 55]

Thank you for your support. I've made mistakes in my 32 year nursing career and I will take it as a mistake on that persons part. I really appreciate those that stepped up and gave me that ear. I am so nervous to tell work. I think they are going to flip out. And I feel guilty about that. I can't help it. But we have been "working on getting you help" for over a year. The jig is up. This is the main reason I don't want them to know yet. They are truly going to freak out. I dread the day.

Thanks again.

[WantToBe 77]

Won't you get in trouble for misappropriating office supplies by using the company fax machine? Using the fax machine at your job for personal things is theft. If you didn't use the work fax machine, they would have never sent a fax back to that number.

There are services you can use to fax from the computer, like efax and hello fax.

Wow - theft? In my office and I'm sure a lot of others you can use internet, fax and copier for personal use as long as it is not excessive. Theft - that is harsh. I was trying to set up a surgical appointment and the coordinator sent me another persons presurgery instructions instead. I called the office immediately and spoke with the person that sent the instructions and let them know what happened. She was apologetic and told me that she took it seriously and would review procedures so this did not happen again. I was satisfied.

[Alex Brecher 10,512]

@@Mary2016,

I am sorry this happened. It always makes me so angry when this happens. It is hard enough to go through the pre-op steps of arranging surgery, dealing with insurance, having the medical exam, and going through the pre-op diet. Then people at the doctor’s office – whose job it is to do these things properly! – tell everyone at your workplace about the surgery.

@@OutsideMatchInside, I was wondering the same thing, but then I realized I don’t think it matters for the HIPPA violation whether @@Mary2016 sent that fax legally or not. If her site did have that policy, it would be a violation between the workplace and @@Mary2016, and the medical office still wouldn’t have had the right to reply to the workplace when @@Mary2016 told them not to.

@@Mary2016, I do thank you for sharing your story on here. It can help all of us to know what to do when our privacy rights are violated. I am sorry some posters may have come across as accusatory, and I hope you will continue to contribute to the BariatricPal community.

[BayougirlMrsS 3,934]

@Mary2016.... I completely understand your anger. That would have pi$$ed me off too. First of all you told them NOT to fax back. Secondly, all your personal information was on there..... No one wants people know how much they weigh. It's embarrassing. Plus you didn't want your co workers to know. I get that, i didn't either. Not because i was embarrassed about my choice to have WLS, but i didn't want them in my business. I worked with hundreds of woman at the time and good Lord they were always gossiping about others. I also didn't want them monitoring me... like they did with i was on diets before (aren't you doing WW.. thats a lot of points... or Atkins.. that's a lot of carbs)... And what if i had failed at WLS too... then i would have them saying... She had WLS and didn't loss a pound. I know they would because they did it to other people. As it would come to be... I had my LB surg on Tuesday and the following Monday when i went back to work... I was laid off. So i didn't have to worry about them anyway... but. Now when i run into one of them... they freak out at how well i have done.

I would talk to the Office manager and explain what happened. Im sure it wasn't sent with malice... but they have to be told to prevent this from happening to someone else. I wouldn't want anyone to lose their job... just for it to be brought to there attention.

Don't worry about the blow-farts that had stupid crap to say... you keep coming here and asking your questions.. 99.9% of us are here to help.

[Christinamo7 4,042]

@@Mary2016,

I am sorry this happened. It always makes me so angry when this happens. It is hard enough to go through the pre-op steps of arranging surgery, dealing with insurance, having the medical exam, and going through the pre-op diet. Then people at the doctor’s office – whose job it is to do these things properly! – tell everyone at your workplace about the surgery.

@@OutsideMatchInside, I was wondering the same thing, but then I realized I don’t think it matters for the HIPPA violation whether @@Mary2016 sent that fax legally or not. If her site did have that policy, it would be a violation between the workplace and @@Mary2016, and the medical office still wouldn’t have had the right to reply to the workplace when @@Mary2016 told them not to.

@@Mary2016, I do thank you for sharing your story on here. It can help all of us to know what to do when our privacy rights are violated. I am sorry some posters may have come across as accusatory, and I hope you will continue to contribute to the BariatricPal community.

Alex. you are such a grown up. :-) I mean that in the nicest possible way.

[reachbree 140]

So sorry that happened to you OP. I would be livid as well. Everyone's work environment is different. Some work in places where their coworkers are like family/best friends...very close. Others work in places where your coworkers are just that, people you are thanking God you are not related to, THAT being said, Im not even telling my whole family about the surgery so I definitely don't want my coworkers knowing with the exception of 1.....My point being...different strokes for different folks. I would not appreciate that happening to me, this does sound like a violation that was done by someone who was not properly training on HIPAA. In my place of employment which is for the County I live in, violators are made to retake the HIPAA course and test for first violation.

Edited April 4, 2016 by reachbree

[AvaFern 3,516]

I can appreciate your anger. I've worked in healthcare and whoever sent that fax should have known better than to send something like that to a fax, however some people are dumb. He or she probably saw the fax number and just returned it, never thinking it might be going to your workplace. There is a huge lack of communication in a lot of offices and the person that faxed it likely didn't even talk to the person who you told that you would be picking it up. It's basic stupid MA stuff that happens all the time and which put your personal information at risk.

When I left the hospital and went home I went straight to bed and I pretty much did nothing for about 24 hours. I had my phone off so I could sleep and my doctor's office left a message checking on me. I called them back and their phones were down, so since I couldn't get through and couldn't leave a message, I figured I'd call back later. I had made EXPRESSLY clear that no one knew about my surgery and that under no circumstances was there to be anyone called. I intentionally left all contact information off of everything because I did not want to risk someone being called. I forgot that on the very first day of the informational conference I had filled out a form with an emergency contact and they had found that and left a message on my best friend's voicemail. I was SO mad. While I had initially decided that I wouldn't tell anyone, I did end up telling my three best friends after surgery, and the one they ended up calling was the one that did know about it. The thing is when you leave a message with the name of the doctor's office that is exclusively a bariatric office, that in itself is a violation of HIPPA especially when I had made 100% clear that no one was to be contacted. Of course my friend's husband got the message and had he not kept his mouth shut, our 200+ mutual friends would have known about surgery within a week. When I could finally get through on their phones I ripped them about the violation of confidentiality and had my friend not known about surgery and her husband had not for once been discreet, my extremely personal medical information would have been something everyone knew about.

Once I got over being furious, I recognized that when I called back and their phones were down, they assumed I had not called back and they justified using the emergency contact form I had filled out when I wasn't even a patient at the time as more important than potentially risking whether I had died. Their phone issue was the problem, however I didn't think a miscommunication and a poor judgement call merited a HIPPA complaint, especially when I am not sure if I would have done something differently in their shoes.

So, while I think you are WELL within your rights to file a complaint, wait until you're a little less mad. Also, HIPPA violations are taken seriously- do you like your PCP and want them to help you in the process of getting approved? Nurses are mean and they can very easily screw you in the approval process. Without their help it is far harder to get approved and keep in mind all those times you're sick and need to be squeezed in for an appointment-suddenly they will have no available openings. I can tell you from working in healthcare that when a patient gets you in trouble, you will make their life miserable as often as possible, and if they get someone you liked fired, oh lord help you.

I'm not saying you're wrong or that you shouldn't file a complaint, but to wait until you're a little less furious before you make the call. I was insanely mad at my doctor's office but when I thought about the gravity of filing a complaint compared to the total lack of intent in violating my confidentiality, I decided to let it go. My surgeon was a jerk, but I didn't consider him or his office to be unethical jerks. My PCP is brilliant and his nurses are idiots. I routinely want to slap them they are that incredibly stupid, however I recognize that if I like having access to my awesome doctor, being nice to his b*tchy, stupid, nurses and MA's is the gate that keeps that particular road open. Just something to consider.

[NikkiDoc 312]

You posted that you work within the same hospital system as the office where the fax came from.

If you look at your HIPPA documentation there is a statement in there that there is a relaxing of HIPPA rules when "communicating within the same hospital systems, and their representatives."

Was there some mistakes made? Yup.--on both sides. In this day and age, no one should never fax personal information that you want to keep confidential--unless you KNOW that the fax is going to a PRIVATE fax machine/computer.

Once again, I have to question the reasoning of "hiding" one's bariatric surgery?? Are you ashamed of having it?? --afraid of what others with think?? Does it really matter? Aren't we all supposed to be having WLS for OURSELVES??

Especially those of us who work or have worked in the Healthcare field. I would hope that we would want to set an example.--to stand up proudly that we had the courage and determination to conquer our "disease demons".

I find absolutely nothing to hide nor be ashamed of by having WLS. Once we try to hide it, cover it up or lie about it, --that is when the spider web of telling two lies to cover up one lie and so on and so on. I don't know about you all, but my memory isn't good enough to remember what lie I told to whom.

Getting back to the faxing fiasco:

Lesson learned by all involved--I hope.You know. I've been sitting reading and rereading this trying to decide if I was going to comment. Sorry, but the ugly monster got the best of me.

Valentina- I may be new-ish to this forum but why do you think it is ok to bash someone who was sickened at the thought of her personal information being spread around a large office? You say you aren't ashamed of having surgery- good for you. But do not project your opinions on others as though you are right and they are wrong. In fact- YOU are shaming anyone who does not subscribe to your belief that you need to tell everyone your business. Heck- I bet you have told tons of people who actually couldn't care less.

Who we choose to share our surgery with is our own business and ours alone. That goes for you. Rent a billboard for Petes sake. But don't think for one moment it is ok to tear down those who think differently from you.

As for Hippa laws- there has not been any "relaxing" since the days it was set in motion. Your facts are wrong. I've been a healthcare provider since 1985. Been there. Done that. When she is acting in the capacity of a patient, her rights are to be maintained just as any other non-employee patient.

Opinions. Everyone has one and that's what I have given. If you don't agree, well that is you're opinion. On this subject. On this day. I gave my opinion.

FYI: My S.O. committed suicide the morning of my surgery. So, you're damned right about my opinion about having WLS is nothing to be ashamed of, nor something to hide! MY OPINION: Stand up, be proud of my journey because now I have to travel that journey alone. I will NEVER again keep it a secret. ON THIS DAY, ON THIS SUBJECT, THIS IS MY OPINION.

As far as the HIPPA statement---I know of what I speak. I was a Medical Specialty Administrator for 30 years Doctors are always going to "have an out" wherever there might be the slightest chance of malpractice. The clause of which I wrote is there. I paraphrased it, but it is there. Been there. Done that and have the T-shirt that says so.

God Bless.

Sorry for your loss.

However it isn't up to the doctor's to set HIPAA. That was done by the federal government. The hospital cannot relax it.

I have been on the other side of healthcare for 27 years. I work for the insurance company. If anything HIPAA has gotten much more strict. We used to be able to email the documents. As that was considered private enough. Now it is expected to be sent encrypted or via a secure server.

I rarely can get a healthcare provider to fax me a document or bill unless I assure them in writing that it is a secure fax. Even then some will only snail mail the itemized bill.