HIPAA question: what would you do?

[joe melby]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I am a P1 student, new to this board. I recently found out about a classmate violating HIPAA. Basically, this person works for a retail pharmacy who happens to serve one of our school's faculty members. This student has been telling people, in our class, about medication that this professor is taking. It's nothing really embarrassing, or anything like that, but a clear violation nonetheless. What makes this worse (for me,) is that this faculty member happens to be a personal friend of mine. I was so pissed to find out about this, and want to do something, but I don't know the best way to handle it. What would you do in this situation?

Also, what kind of penalty could this person be given for such a violation ... considering we are registered as pharmacist interns in our state?

 

[crazybob]

I am a P1 student, new to this board. I recently found out about a classmate violating HIPAA. Basically, this person works for a retail pharmacy who happens to serve one of our school's faculty members. This student has been telling people, in our class, about medication that this professor is taking. It's nothing really embarrassing, or anything like that, but a clear violation nonetheless. What makes this worse (for me,) is that this faculty member happens to be a personal friend of mine. I was so pissed to find out about this, and want to do something, but I don't know the best way to handle it. What would you do in this situation?

Also, what kind of penalty could this person be given for such a violation ... considering we are registered as pharmacist interns in our state?

Check with your instutition's policy regarding HIPAA violations at your school. Then check with your state board of pharmacy to see what actions you need to take. They might require some evidence or statements before you make accusations or claims about the person, so be prepared for that.

 

[desklamp]

I am a P1 student, new to this board. I recently found out about a classmate violating HIPAA. Basically, this person works for a retail pharmacy who happens to serve one of our school's faculty members. This student has been telling people, in our class, about medication that this professor is taking. It's nothing really embarrassing, or anything like that, but a clear violation nonetheless. What makes this worse (for me,) is that this faculty member happens to be a personal friend of mine. I was so pissed to find out about this, and want to do something, but I don't know the best way to handle it. What would you do in this situation?

Also, what kind of penalty could this person be given for such a violation ... considering we are registered as pharmacist interns in our state?

have you tried like...talking to this person first? asking them to stop?

 

[Apteka]

I think this is a serious violation. Do you have a dean of student services you could talk to? This is BEYOND ridiculous, I'm not sure how old these people are but CLEARLY this is unprofessional, unethical, and completely inappropriate, even if you are just in your first year of P-school.

I don't think a student approaching a fellow student would be enough to make this person stop doing this. I think it has to come from a higher source (ie, the dean.)

wow, amazing who gets into pharmacy school, huh? (considering how many people want to get in)

 

[bananaface]

I would keep it in-house within the College of Pharmacy for the time being. I would tell an Assistant Dean or other designated administrator and let them tell the faculty member what is going on because that way the issue is brought to the faculty member by a neutral party who can mediate and make sure that the faculty member does not act inappropriately towards the student as a result of the disclosures. It should be up to the faculty member whether to file an official complaint about the HIPAA violation and up to the Asst Dean or other designated administrator to determine whether the student will face honor code related consequences.

 

[renetto]

Unless you can gather other people to rat him out to the PHARMACY dean, I would keep your mouth shut. You WILL hurt your standing with the school if you make an accusation of this nature without proof.

To quote a board member I spoke with about ethics in pharmacy "if you don't have the proof, get the hell out of my office".

 

[Old Timer]

Here is the deal.

If you did not hear the words come out of his mouth it's hearsay.

Second, this is a violation of his employers company policy that can result in his termination and a fine for his employer.

You should approach the student and say you heard somebody saying that he had disclosed this information. Tell him you are sure it's not true and you don't want him to get in trouble for something he didn't do, but was he aware there are fines for HIPAA violations:

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]HIPAA allows both civil and criminal penalties, including fines and possible time in jail. [/SIZE].
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1] The Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services enforces civil violations, and the Department of Justice enforces criminal violations of the HIPAA Standards. [/SIZE].
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1] Civil penalties are usually monetary fines. HIPAA allows fines of up to $100 for each violation of the law, to a limit of $25,000 per year for violations of the same requirement. [/SIZE].
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1] Criminal sanctions for knowing misuse or disclosures of PHI carry fines of $50,000 to $250,000 and one to ten years imprisonment. [/SIZE].

Once you confront the person in a non-accusatory way. Shut up and get out of the way. If you hear this person disclose the information personally, go to the person whose information was disclosed and then get out of the way and whatever happens, happens....

 

[MindOverMatter]

Probably some 21 year old that doesn't yet have the professionalism or even common sense to know how messed up this is. I would bring it up to him and say that it's a serious deal if he's doing that, and then challenge him to an arm wrestling match.

 

[Sparda29]

Yeah... unless you have some hard proof, don't say anything.

 

[joe melby]

Thanks for all of the thoughts/advice. I actually ended following most of the advice given before many of you responded. I decided not to pursue any action because a) the violation didn't happen directly in front of me, but rather in front of a friend of mine who told me about it. b) the person spreading information appears to have only told these 2 people, and it appears that this is the only violation.

I know that some people will say that it shouldn't matter - a violation is a violation - whether it is the first or not. However, I've decided to see how things play out. If I do hear of this student continuing to do this, or involve more people, I will definitely confront them in some manner.

And yes, as mindovermatter said, this person is extremely immature and acts unprofessionally, in many other less serious ways. That's part of what made me so angry about the situation. I'm so sick of seeing people in class, who should have never been accepted into pharmacy school to begin with.

ps. for the record, the student is a girl, probably weighing in at 100 lbs. I don't think an arm wrestling match would be appropriate, haha! but maybe that would be a really good way to get my point across.

 

[renetto]

You can always take the sly route and when you see this girl just say "I heard someone was telling students about medications certain professors are taking....if you see this person, tell them that the Dean has heard about it and will find out who it is if it continues".

That'll scare this toothpick of a pharmacy student.

 

[Sparda29]

Thanks for all of the thoughts/advice. I actually ended following most of the advice given before many of you responded. I decided not to pursue any action because a) the violation didn't happen directly in front of me, but rather in front of a friend of mine who told me about it. b) the person spreading information appears to have only told these 2 people, and it appears that this is the only violation.

I know that some people will say that it shouldn't matter - a violation is a violation - whether it is the first or not. However, I've decided to see how things play out. If I do hear of this student continuing to do this, or involve more people, I will definitely confront them in some manner.

And yes, as mindovermatter said, this person is extremely immature and acts unprofessionally, in many other less serious ways. That's part of what made me so angry about the situation. I'm so sick of seeing people in class, who should have never been accepted into pharmacy school to begin with.

ps. for the record, the student is a girl, probably weighing in at 100 lbs. I don't think an arm wrestling match would be appropriate, haha! but maybe that would be a really good way to get my point across.

Is she hot? If she is, blackmail her.

 

[joe melby]

Is she hot? If she is, blackmail her.

haha....not interested. but i like the idea though!

 

[crazybob]

If you're a big guy and you confronted the girl, she would have to take you seriously But just don't make her too nervous or she'll run to her friends and they might gang up on you (happened to me once in middle school )

But since we're adults, she should be able to handle it like an adult, and if she asks 'well, what do you want me to do about it?' then you could offer your opinion and hopefully she'll change her ways.