Is this a hippa violation

[TurboX17]

This is my first year post residency at a state hospital and already I've unintentionally done something I'm afraid could potentially get me terminated. Yesterday before leaving campus, I was carrying two bags, one contains personal patients notes from scrap paper, in the same bag were also a bottle of meds prescribed to me. Evidently, I was distracted by an urgent phone call and drove off with the bag on the rooftop of my car. I know, REALLY stupid. I realized this after leaving the gym a an hour later and went back to trace my steps hoping I could find the bag. Unfortunately I could not find it. I've been paralyzed the whole day and didn't get a wink of sleep last night. I searched a few dumpsters and called security to no avail. I don't know what to do and what the repercussions could be. Even though these were not hospital patient files, these were my notes of the patients with list of names. I'm scared that I could be fined and terminated for this. Btw, the meds prescribed to me were adderall for my ADD. So now, my thoughts are racing and imagining the worst scenarios. Ugh, help !

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[NickNaylor]

A fellow resident in my program had something similar happen (essentially lost a clipboard with a printed patient list and his notes from interviews). He ended up telling whoever is in charge of privacy and had to do some additional training on maintaining patient confidentiality. As far as I know no formal discipline occurred, and he certainly was terminated or placed on any kind of probation.

I think the right thing to do would mention the loss of patient information to your supervisor so that they can direct you to whoever you need to talk to. Talking to your program director might be helpful. The "liability" you may be exposed is probably outlined in some impossible-to-find policy somewhere at the hospital you're working at. I think it's unlikely that you would be terminated from your program for something like this, but the potential consequences will ultimately be determined by the policies and procedures at this specific hospital and in your program. I guess an alternative would be to keep it secret and hope for the best, but if something does turn up that's not going to look too great for you.

 

[TurboX17]

A fellow resident in my program had something similar happen (essentially lost a clipboard with a printed patient list and his notes from interviews). He ended up telling whoever is in charge of privacy and had to do some additional training on maintaining patient confidentiality. As far as I know no formal discipline occurred, and he certainly was terminated or placed on any kind of probation.

I think the right thing to do would mention the loss of patient information to your supervisor so that they can direct you to whoever you need to talk to. Talking to your program director might be helpful. The "liability" you may be exposed is probably outlined in some impossible-to-find policy somewhere at the hospital you're working at. I think it's unlikely that you would be terminated from your program for something like this, but the potential consequences will ultimately be determined by the policies and procedures at this specific hospital and in your program. I guess an alternative would be to keep it secret and hope for the best, but if something does turn up that's not going to look too great for you.

Thanks NickNaylor for your reply. I'm a state employee post residency so it may be different, probably for the worst, I don't know.

 

[splik]

since you didnt lose their actual medical records I think it is highly unlikely you would get fired. It is possble there may be fines, but that isn't clear. were these handwritten notes or types? What information was in this? Was it legible. You dont need to answer these questions here and i'd advise you not to say anymore here. You need to let the privacy officer at the hospital know about this so they can figure out whether anyone needs to be notified about the breach. Yes, this is a HIPAA breach (rather than a violation) but it is not clear whether this requires the hospital to notfiy anyone. It depends on how likely it is anyone would actually get a hold of this information (and be able to read it). In addition to HIPAA, some states have additional health privacy laws regarding this kind of stuff as well. Lets face it, if anyone gets this thwyll be more interested in your adderall !

 

[TurboX17]

since you didnt lose their actual medical records I think it is highly unlikely you would get fired. It is possble there may be fines, but that isn't clear. were these handwritten notes or types? What information was in this? Was it legible. You dont need to answer these questions here and i'd advise you not to say anymore here. You need to let the privacy officer at the hospital know about this so they can figure out whether anyone needs to be notified about the breach. Yes, this is a HIPAA breach (rather than a violation) but it is not clear whether this requires the hospital to notfiy anyone. It depends on how likely it is anyone would actually get a hold of this information (and be able to read it). In addition to HIPAA, some states have additional health privacy laws regarding this kind of stuff as well. Lets face it, if anyone gets this thwyll be more interested in your adderall !

All I'll say is it was handwritten. Who would be considered a privacy officer ? So is this worst than violation ? Or does it carry similar weight

 

[splik]

if you work at a state hospital there will definitely be some jobsworth employed to be the privacy officer. they might also be called the hipaa compliance officer or a different title. it cant be too hard to figure out who it is. if it's handwritten maybe no one can read them anyway.

 

[Jules A]

Agree with Splik that I'm certain the Adderall was the delight of this haul and the papers were probably discarded without a second thought.

And not trying to even be slightly flip but from what I've seen being fired from a State or Federal job, unless they were gunning for you anyway, is far more difficult than from the private sector. I'm sorry you are going through this but keep in mind you are definitely not the first one this has happened to. It is what it is at this point, a lesson learned the hard way perhaps but a lesson none the less. Hang in there.

 

[TurboX17]

Agree with Splik that I'm certain the Adderall was the delight of this haul and the papers were probably discarded without a second thought.

And not trying to even be slightly flip but from what I've seen being fired from a State or Federal job, unless they were gunning for you anyway, is far more difficult than from the private sector. I'm sorry you are going through this but keep in mind you are definitely not the first one this has happened to. It is what it is at this point, a lesson learned the hard way perhaps but a lesson none the less. Hang in there.

Thanks Jules for your kind words.

 

[birchswing]

I am not intimate with HIPAA, but from a high-level order, isn't one of the big ideas that data should be handled such that in the event it is lost, the people affected can be notified? I can't remember where I heard/read that, but the idea was that it wasn't just about keeping data private but having systems to notify people when it becomes not private.

 

[deleted343839]

isn't one of the big ideas that data should be handled such that in the event it is lost, the people affected can be notified?

Most states have laws to this effect, but they vary in their specifics. Institutions can adopt additional policies around data breaches. There is no universal standard.