Employees disclosing information:
No, this scenario does not present an HIPAA violation. What the medical assistant did correctly was not to give information that directly identifies the patient by linking his medical record with his identity. Even though the medical assistant intentionally gave out the medical information of the patient that she diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer as a result of smoking, she did not in any way reveal the gender, name, background or give any description about the patient thereafter. Her intentions are genuine by telling her husband about the patient that ended up with cancer as a result of smoking because she wants her husband to understand the danger that smoking poses to his health and from that, find a reason to quit smoking.
Mishandling of medical records:
Yes, this was an HIPAA violation. The medical assistant in this scenario was careless with the release of the patient’s records. First, she did not ask for the separate release forms when the request for the doctor to fill the FMLA paperwork of the patient comes in. Instead, she takes them to the doctor who quickly fills them. This was an HIPAA violation since HIPAA laws require separate release forms to be obtained by the medical officers before they release any information concerning the patient (Cannon & Caldwell, 2016) . Second, after the doctor has filled the forms, the medical assistant adds them to the patient’s chart and faxes the chart to the number provided. By doing this, medical assistant was being careless with the release of the patients’ records which is an HIPAA violation since she does not confirm the authenticity of the number to make sure that indeed she is faxing the patient’s records to the patient’s employer and not any other malice person.
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Lost or stolen devices:
Yes, this was an HIPAA violation. The medical assistant in this scenario did not protect or encrypt her computer which contains the patients’ information. This happens when the medical assistant intentionally allows her friend to access her computer at work when she knows that her computer which contains patient’s records does not have necessary safeguards in place. This is an HIPAA violation because the HIPAA laws require all the devices that contain health information to have necessary safeguards such as passwords to guarantee no access by the unauthorized users (Cannon & Caldwell, 2016) .
Social media:
Yes this was an HIPAA violation. The medical assistant in this scenario did not seek the consent of the right person before posting their pictures on social media. Even though the medical assistant sought the consent of all the patients he took pictures with before posting those picture online, he did list the physician and the clinic name on his posts. This means that he ought to have also sought the consent of the clinic management as well as the physician. By not doing that, the medical assistant violated the HIPAA regulations which require one to seek the consent of any person he/she intends to take and posts his pictures on social media platforms before doing the same.
Unauthorized access of patient records:
Yes, this was an HIPAA violation. The medical assistant in this scenario did seek for advice from her supervisors on whether it was wrong to access the patient’s documents without permission. The medical assistant out of curiosity processes the payment of the person she suspects to know with the aim of confirming her identity. She does this without seeking advice from her seniors on whether it was right or wrong to do the same. This was a violation of HIPAA regulations which requires any worker to always ask for guidance from his supervisors when he is not sure of handling any situation in the hospital.
References
Cannon, A. A., & Caldwell, H. (2016). HIPAA violations among nursing students: Teachable moment or terminal mistake-A case study. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice , 6 (12), 41.
