Is this a HIPAA violation?

[wb100]

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[GBCrzzyy]

If it is enough to make you this uncomfortable you should report. Even if he signed a waiver for photos, I'm not sure that applies to them being posted on social media. It may not be a violation especially if the photos can't be identified to the specific patient. To my knowledge, they are completely anonymous. If reporters were at risk, I doubt any reports would be made at all for fear of ruining work relationships and such.

 

[Pusheen]

Reports are anonymous.
It's pretty douchey to post that stuff on social media. You really have to go by your own conscience here, I don't think there's one right answer to this situation.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

I know someone that has been taking pictures and posting on social media of patients he's observed surgeries on. I did confront him once about it and that person said the patient signed a waiver allowing documentation such as pictures (this is an academic institution). I don't believe that this allows pictures of sedated patients or pics of aborted fetus to end up on social media (yes this actually happened). I actually know this person very well and don't want it to get traced back to me, which is why I haven't reported it since I saw it last year. I would say in the last 6 months this person hasn't posted anything but I don't know if this is due to lack of patient access since then. My question is, should I even bother reporting something that happened 1 year ago? and how much privacy and anonymity are there with HIPAA reports? God I feel like this is a MMI question and my gut says just to call and report but its so hard when I am actually friends with this person (he wants to go to medical school if that means anything) and I am scared this would ruin his chances..

Good MMI answers generally don't involve bringing the hammer down on an unsuspecting friend. You said you brought it up once and he said the patient had consented. Whether or not this is a valid excuse, the next step in the interview-style response, if you still don't agree with his actions, would be to tell your friend that you still think it's unethical, show him proof that he isn't actually allowed to do it, and THEN consider reporting it if he refuses to stop.

Also if this person is your friend and he was making an effort to get the patients' consent, then why would you want to just straight up report him? Seems to me that even a moderately close friend (or anyone you don't hate) would deserve to be told that they're doing something wrong before you try to destroy his life. Ignorance isn't a legal defence, but it should be good enough for a friend.

 

[wb100]

Good MMI answers generally don't involve bringing the hammer down on an unsuspecting friend. You said you brought it up once and he said the patient had consented. Whether or not this is a valid excuse, the next step in the interview-style response, if you still don't agree with his actions, would be to tell your friend that you still think it's unethical, show him proof that he isn't actually allowed to do it, and THEN consider reporting it if he refuses to stop.

Also if this person is your friend and he was making an effort to get the patients' consent, then why would you want to just straight up report him? Seems to me that even a moderately close friend (or anyone you don't hate) would deserve to be told that they're doing something wrong before you try to destroy his life. Ignorance isn't a legal defence, but it should be good enough for a friend.

Yes I see your point here. The patient had given consent to document the procedure for educational purposes, does this clause allow social media posting or allowing medical personnel to take pictures on their own private phones? I feel that this is obvious but maybe my friend isn't aware of this. I'm not sure. I am still conflicted but maybe I should just wait until he does it again and talk to him about it? Like I said, most of this happened about a year ago and I haven't seen much since... Or should I just bring it up now?

 

[LizzyM]

This is a good article on the subject of photos and HIPAA:

http://www.todayswoundclinic.com/articles/hipaa-and-hitech-where-are-your-photos-…-do-you-know

If there are no identifiers, including face, tatoos or distinctive birthmarks, nor date of discharge, initials, and so forth then it may not be PHI.

If you haven't seen this student in over a year it seems like water under the bridge to seek him out and tell him that what he's been doing seems a bit shady if not actually illegal.

If he hasn't violated HIPAA because he has not posted identifiers, then you don't have anything to report.

Anyway, wasn't he observed/supervised in the OR; did people responsible for the care of the patients know that he was taking pictures?

 

[wb100]

This is a good article on the subject of photos and HIPAA:

http://www.todayswoundclinic.com/articles/hipaa-and-hitech-where-are-your-photos-…-do-you-know

If there are no identifiers, including face, tatoos or distinctive birthmarks, nor date of discharge, initials, and so forth then it may not be PHI.

If you haven't seen this student in over a year it seems like water under the bridge to seek him out and tell him that what he's been doing seems a bit shady if not actually illegal.

If he hasn't violated HIPAA because he has not posted identifiers, then you don't have anything to report.

Anyway, wasn't he observed/supervised in the OR; did people responsible for the care of the patients know that he was taking pictures?

Thank you for your response LizzyM. There are no identifiers in his pictures so I don't have anything to report. Thank you everyone for all your help.

 

[Cytokine123]

lol what a baby snitch

 

[chewydog]

lol what a baby snitch

Thanks for adding a helpful comment to the thread, cytokine. Your immaturity makes me want to laugh out loud. The OP asked a fair question about something that weighed on his/her conscience and was responsive to other people's thoughts. I learned something new as well from the helpful input of LizzyM and everyone else.

 

[Cytokine123]

Thanks for adding a helpful comment to the thread, cytokine. Your immaturity makes me want to laugh out loud. The OP asked a fair question about something that weighed on his/her conscience and was responsive to other people's thoughts. I learned something new as well from the helpful input of LizzyM and everyone else.

Okay, then laugh out loud? Your anal pseudo-intellectual persona who relishes in thinking they're mature makes me want to laugh out loud. And in fact, I did.

 

[DokterMom]

Okay, then laugh out loud? Your anal pseudo-intellectual persona who relishes in thinking they're mature makes me want to laugh out loud. And in fact, I did.

LizzyM addressed the legality of the pictures in question, not the morality or ethical aspects of taking medical photos and posting them on social media. It's quite reasonable to assume that consent which was given for academic and training purposes would NOT have been given for social media "OMG - Gross!" posts. So the OP's friend's conduct was, IMO, highly questionable, and the OP was very reasonable to be concerned.

The question was asked, answered, and appropriate thanks given to the responders -- Your snark adds nothing worthwhile.

 

[RangerBob]

I agree--posting pictures of patients, particularly of aborted fetuses, is very bad form and quite unethical. Perhaps not illegal or in violation of HIPAA, but still unethical.

Identifiers or not, if you're a medical student, resident, physician, or whoever, and your higher ups found out, that could be grounds for dismissal.

Don't they teach you day 1 to never post photographs of patients on Facebook? That just seems like common sense. Taking educational photographs with identifiers removed is one thing, but posting them in public is another (even with privacy settings on high, I'd still consider anything posted on Facebook to be public).