Are any of you registered patients where you work? How has that worked out for you? I work for specialists and have chosen to establish in the near future. Any experience with this?

Your Professional Title/Credentials: RMA

Are You Still In School? n

Are You Working? y

Do you mean am I a patient where I also work?

Your Professional Title/Credentials: CCMA Certified Phlebotomist Certified X-Ray tech

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes. I work agency. (Hospital ER Clinic for 6 years)

That's what I mean but more for MA's because it's a more personal experience than being a nurse in a large medical sytem.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: RMA

Are You Still In School? n

Are You Working? y

As an MA I was never a pt in the clinic where I worked because it made me uncomfortable. I felt like I couldn't have total privacy

We also had a HUGE scandal! A few MAs began looking up records via computer which is a violation of HIPAA! Secure info was breached They were looking up employees who were also patients. They were all terminated.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: CCMA Certified Phlebotomist Certified X-Ray tech

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes. I work agency. (Hospital ER Clinic for 6 years)

Another scandal that lead to immediate dismissal was when a RN got blood work done in the same medical center where she worked. She was in a hurry to find out the results and didn't want to wait till she'd get them from the doctor. So, she got on the computer network at work, searched for her name in the EHR (electronic health records) where the lab had already entered the results. This was a breach of HIPAA rules. The nurse was fired.

Believe it or not!

Your Professional Title/Credentials: Forum Owner/Website Admin

I don't believe it. YOu have the right to look at your own medical records and if you work at the clinic, why would it be a HIPPA policy? It's YOUR CHART.
This is what my HR and Boss said when I asked them about this. I think maybe "she" got fired for other reasons not mentioned to her OR YOU. It's only a violation if you look up other family member's records, and the search on any name is impossible to delete when you are searching in the EMR.

As a patient I have the right to my records but not necessarily by using EMR. I could be fired for that unless I signed out for them.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: RMA

Are You Still In School? n

Are You Working? y

Just when I began wondering whether I might have misunderstood something in the case with the nurse who logged herself into the EHR network, Rena nailed it for me...

If I recall correctly, THAT was the exact reason for dismissal! She had a right to her lab results, but not the right to log herself into the system.

For clarification, I am going to see if I can dig up that news article. If I could only recall where I read it.

Hmmmm???

Your Professional Title/Credentials: Forum Owner/Website Admin

I wish I could remember the details of the story, let alone find the article!!! May be someone else here recalls this case and can help out. Once again, this incident involved a nurse being fired for pulling up her own medical record when she was in the ER.

If I recall correctly the case revolved around the fact that medical records are the private property of the hospital and can only be accessed by medical staff when medically necessary (checking lab results, logging treatments and assessments, making notations, etc).

Your Professional Title/Credentials: Forum Owner/Website Admin

EHR, EMR, whatever we call it...it is so very convenient and perhaps will save alot of lives (med lists, allergies, etc) but it can be so easy to violate privacy laws. I always remember that Big Brother is watching everything I do on my computer at work. I signed a form in our medical records dept. so I could look at my records for the next 90 days.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: RMA

Are You Still In School? n

Are You Working? y

The same where I work. If I want access to my records I must fill out the same form as a patient. It does not give me unlimited perusal time. HIPAA is a federal law a medical employee does not want to mess with. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: CCMA Certified Phlebotomist Certified X-Ray tech

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes. I work agency. (Hospital ER Clinic for 6 years)

While still searching the web for the above mentioned case, I came across different websites that spell out HIPAA and EMR Privacy Rules... here is something I want to post just to reiterate for everybody:

When you use Protected Health Information (PHI), you must follow the Privacy Rule's minimum necessary
requirement by asking yourself the following question: "Am I using or accessing more PHI than I need to?"

You may not access records of your neighbors,
friends, children, spouse, or other individuals, (including your own personal health records), unless required in the performance of your job.

You also may not access records of patients for which you have no treatment relationship, or
for a purpose other than treatment, payment or health care operations.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: Forum Owner/Website Admin

I just thought I would add my two cents. I really enjoy this forum and I appreciate the monitoring to make sure there aren't flamers. I studied and read this forum religiously while in school. I also read heavily when studying for my CMA. I think Danni has done an excellent job keeping this forum of high quality. Thank you Danni.

This is what my employer sent out--well actually it is part of a 30 page document on HIPPA.

2007 - Palisades Medical Center investigated 40 employees and suspended 27 for accessing a celebrity’s PHI without authorization
2007 - Ivinson Memorial Hospital fired one employee, suspended two and reprimanded four others for failure to follow hospital policy and looking at patients’ records and their own records.
2007 - Park Nicollet Clinic suspended 100 employees for three days without pay for peeking at electronic records of friends and relatives
2008 - Tenet Healthcare hospital biller in Texas accused of stealing records of 90 patients
2008 - Massachusetts General Hospital survey of 1600 physicians found that 11% of them said they had inappropriately revealed information about patients
2008 – Mayo Clinic Hospital – Phoenix General Surgery Chief Resident put on administrative leave for taking a picture of a patient during surgery with his cell phone
April 2008 – New York Presbyterian Hospital Admitting Department employee charged by US Attorney with accessing personal information of 1000s of patients and attempting to sell data to conspirators
2008 – Northeast Arkansas Clinic nurse plead guilty to wrongfully disclosing PHI for personal gain and malicious harm – faces 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine
2008 – Oklahoma city health care provider employee indicted by federal grand jury for disclosing PHI for personal gain
2008 - Three UCLA Health System employees snooped in high-profile patient records
March 2008 - UCLA cited for deficiencies by California Department of Public Health
CDPH notified law enforcement agencies
Office for Civil Rights
City Attorney
County District Attorney
State Attorney General
13 employees fired
Federal government indicted hospital Administrative Specialist employee
Accessing records
Selling records to the media
Faces 10 years in prison
Media organization which purchased records may also face federal prosecution.
My Employer Policy 10-019-S HIPAA Privacy and Security Workforce Sanctions
Breaches may result in discipline of the employee up to and including immediate termination

Personal civil or criminal penalties of a minimum of $25,000

Your Professional Title/Credentials: CMA, Ltd. X-Ray

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes