Advice about HIPAA issue

[badblackpug]

OP here.

At this point, I am strongly leaning towards contacting the hospital on Monday and asking for a report of who has viewed my son's records.

If the mother did not do it, then no harm has been done, and I will know she is innocent of this behavior and that her daughter is stirring up trouble.

If she did it, then I will have to decide what course of action to take--but that's a different decision to make.

DH and I discussed it, and we think that if we ask the mom at this point, before we know for sure, she is going to deny it (of course--what else could she do?) and maybe even get angry at us for bringing it to her attention or suspecting her of something like that.

I am surprised at how upset my son has been because he feels like his medical records are being made fun of by a doctor. If that happened, she needs to deal with the ramifications. If it did not happen, then he needs to know so that he does not feel that way.

I still seriously doubt it happened, but if you do find out it isn't true, I would contact the mother. Very likely, she doesn't know her daughter said this, and very likely, the daughter doesn't understand HIPAA or realize how damaging something like this could be to her mother's reputation. The mother should, at least, have the opportunity to have a dialogue with her daughter about spouting off at the mouth.

The mother shouldn't be punished for her daughter doing something that is very typical of dramatic teen girls, that she, probably, had no knowledge of.

 

[sookie]

But again, if the mother did not access the chart, she would not be involved in any investigation that the hospital might do.

I think that depends on the hospital. Most places would contact her because she deserves to know what has happened for risk management purposes. She may not know the details of your child or your name however.

I think that if you are going to go through with contacting the hospital, to expedite the process - you need to be brave enough to just call out the name of the person you are accusing so it can be taken care of once and for all. No dancing around it.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

OP here.

At this point, I am strongly leaning towards contacting the hospital on Monday and asking for a report of who has viewed my son's records.

If the mother did not do it, then no harm has been done, and I will know she is innocent of this behavior and that her daughter is stirring up trouble.

If she did it, then I will have to decide what course of action to take--but that's a different decision to make.

DH and I discussed it, and we think that if we ask the mom at this point, before we know for sure, she is going to deny it (of course--what else could she do?) and maybe even get angry at us for bringing it to her attention or suspecting her of something like that.

I am surprised at how upset my son has been because he feels like his medical records are being made fun of by a doctor. If that happened, she needs to deal with the ramifications. If it did not happen, then he needs to know so that he does not feel that way.

Sounds reasonable and remember you want to contact the Privacy Officer, the medical records office will not be of any help.

 

[zurgswife]

OP here.

At this point, I am strongly leaning towards contacting the hospital on Monday and asking for a report of who has viewed my son's records.

If the mother did not do it, then no harm has been done, and I will know she is innocent of this behavior and that her daughter is stirring up trouble.

If she did it, then I will have to decide what course of action to take--but that's a different decision to make.

DH and I discussed it, and we think that if we ask the mom at this point, before we know for sure, she is going to deny it (of course--what else could she do?) and maybe even get angry at us for bringing it to her attention or suspecting her of something like that.

I am surprised at how upset my son has been because he feels like his medical records are being made fun of by a doctor. If that happened, she needs to deal with the ramifications. If it did not happen, then he needs to know so that he does not feel that way.

This is exactly what I would do. Good luck.

Totally agree that this the best first step.

 

[Buckalew11]

This is exactly what I would do. Good luck.

I think that depends on the hospital. Most places would contact her because she deserves to know what has happened for risk management purposes. She may not know the details of your child or your name however.

I think that if you are going to go through with contacting the hospital, to expedite the process - you need to be brave enough to just call out the name of the person you are accusing so it can be taken care of once and for all. No dancing around it.

I absolutely wouldn't "call out the name of the person"--I would ask to see the list. Period.It has nothing with "being brave"--nothing. Ask to see the list, if her name is not there, move on. If they call you, pumping you for info about why you wanted it, you'll be able to honestly tell them you had questions about who has seen it but that everyone on the list looks correct and your concerns are gone. If her name IS on there and they contact you before you take action, well, there's your chance.

 

[undertheradar]

OP, how small of a community is involved here? Basing an inquiry based upon hearsay is possibly opening yourself to a lawsuit. Yes, you have the right to know if this happened but you need to weigh the possible risk of it being kids acting like kids. The smaller the local community, the better the chance that if this parent didn't access the record, she will be informed about it anyway. You wrote that your son is already having issues with former friends and other students over this, is it worth making things tougher for him if the hearsay is wrong? I would think long and hard before taking action.

 

[sam_gordon]

Seriously!

As a former teacher, one of my mentors said that she would tell parents, "You believe about half of what your kid tells you happens at school, and I'll believe about half of what they tell me happens at home."

What ever happened to treating others the way you would want to be treated? I would welcome any parent to call me at any time if they had a question or concern about something my child said or did whether it was regarding my personal or professional life. Especially my professional life.

Let's say the mom DID access the record (which I still doubt) and she is punished? You better believe that the daughter is going to hear about THAT to put it lightly. If she went around school blabbing about something that could get her mom in trouble then what makes you think she's not going to tell EVERYBODY that her mom did get in trouble? It's not a HIPAA violation to tell people that your mom got in trouble because Johnny's mom filed a complaint against her.

There's also the extremely likely chance that the mom didn't access the record, but is told that someone requested records because they believed that she did. If she didn't do it then the girl will most likely go around telling everyone how Johnny's mom "snitched" on her mom. Regardless of the outcome, I don't see either scenario making things easier on your son. I can see this making things worse for him at school though.

Is it fair? No. It's also not fair that bullies get away with being bullies because kids don't want to "snitch" and cause an even bigger problem. It's no fair that MANY people are molested and/or raped and choose not to report it because they don't want to deal with the aftermath. Sometimes getting justice isn't what's best for the victim's mental health.

Why don't you simply pick up the phone and call the mom? If you're not satisfied after speaking to her then the electronic record is still going to be there. It's not like she can go back and erase what happened, if anything happened at all.

Sorry, I don't get this. What good does calling the mom do? If she says "yes, I looked and told my DD", shouldn't she be punished? If she says "no, I didn't look", you don't know if she's lying or not.

 

[Buckalew11]

OP, how small of a community is involved here? Basing an inquiry based upon hearsay is possibly opening yourself to a lawsuit. Yes, you have the right to know if this happened but you need to weigh the possible risk of it being kids acting like kids. The smaller the local community, the better the chance that if this parent didn't access the record, she will be informed about it anyway. You wrote that your son is already having issues with former friends and other students over this, is it worth making things tougher for him if the hearsay is wrong? I would think long and hard before taking action.

If the OP goes in and asks to see the record of who has accessed the account, she does not have to name the woman. So, if she is NOT on the list, she would not be question any more than any other innocent doctor or nurse who did NOT access the records. IF she accessed the records, her name will show and she'll be guilty.

I live in a small community and it happens here. In fact, I think it might be worse in small communities.

Sorry, I don't get this. What good does calling the mom do? If she says "yes, I looked and told my DD", shouldn't she be punished? If she says "no, I didn't look", you don't know if she's lying or not.

That's what I'd like to know. LMAO

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

OP, how small of a community is involved here? Basing an inquiry based upon hearsay is possibly opening yourself to a lawsuit. Yes, you have the right to know if this happened but you need to weigh the possible risk of it being kids acting like kids. The smaller the local community, the better the chance that if this parent didn't access the record, she will be informed about it anyway. You wrote that your son is already having issues with former friends and other students over this, is it worth making things tougher for him if the hearsay is wrong? I would think long and hard before taking action.

The OP is well within her rights to request a list of people who have accessed her son's medical records. It's not opening an inquiry, it's like asking for a copy of your credit report, by law, you're allowed this information. She's not saying she's going to call and accuse the Dr. of improper access, just ask for the list. Then, if the name is on the list, an inquiry can be opened based on facts. There is no threat at all of a lawsuit here, the Dr. would have no grounds unless the OP was running around town accusing her of accessing records, which she isn't.

 

[undertheradar]

If the OP requests to see who accessed her son's records and it is a small community, it will get around. If life is tough for OP's son now, imagine adding that inquiry into it. The OP is free to do whatever she feels is right, not exactly sure what the OP's ultimate goal is. If the hearsay is wrong and the OP's actions are revealed to the doctor/parent, the OP will have to live with the consequences.

 

[Buckalew11]

If the OP requests to see who accessed her son's records and it is a small community, it will get around. If life is tough for OP's son now, imagine adding that inquiry into it. The OP is free to do whatever she feels is right, not exactly sure what the OP's ultimate goal is. If the hearsay is wrong and the OP's actions are revealed to the doctor/parent, the OP will have to live with the consequences.

Why would the security officer tell that the OP came and asked to see the records? That's their job---they are not supposed to go around telling it. Their job could also fall into questionif they went around talking. PLUS, she does not have to mention why she is doing it or who she is wondering about so even the security officer would not know she was even looking for this doctor/parent's name.

The ultimate goal would probably be to get to the bottom of it and if it means this doctor/parent looked and blabbed, she might lose her job--she broke a serious rule. If she did not access his records, HE will feel better knowing only the right people accessed them.

 

[OceanAnnie]

If the OP requests to see who accessed her son's records and it is a small community, it will get around. If life is tough for OP's son now, imagine adding that inquiry into it. The OP is free to do whatever she feels is right, not exactly sure what the OP's ultimate goal is. If the hearsay is wrong and the OP's actions are revealed to the doctor/parent, the OP will have to live with the consequences.

Her son's life is already tough. There is no way in hades I would let an adult get away with participating in the harassment of my child by way of breaking a law (in addition to the kids)!! The ultimate goal is to stop the adult from accessing her child's records and running her mouth about it. He has a right to privacy and no small town talk would stop me from seeing to it that my child had that right enforced!

There is no excuse in letting someone get away with that, because if there is no consequence it will continue (if she in fact did it). To look away would be EXTREMELY unacceptable to me.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

If the OP requests to see who accessed her son's records and it is a small community, it will get around. If life is tough for OP's son now, imagine adding that inquiry into it. The OP is free to do whatever she feels is right, not exactly sure what the OP's ultimate goal is. If the hearsay is wrong and the OP's actions are revealed to the doctor/parent, the OP will have to live with the consequences.

Who cares if it gets around that the OP requested the info. No one knows why unless the son is telling his other friends that so-and-so's mom looked at his records. There are going to be rumors either way.

OP should ask her son if he wants her to pursue getting a list of people who accessed the records. If he says yes, she should explain potential consequences and that the bullying may get worse, not better. If he doesn't, let him go. This is his life it impacts so he should make the decision.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

If the OP requests to see who accessed her son's records and it is a small community, it will get around. If life is tough for OP's son now, imagine adding that inquiry into it. The OP is free to do whatever she feels is right, not exactly sure what the OP's ultimate goal is. If the hearsay is wrong and the OP's actions are revealed to the doctor/parent, the OP will have to live with the consequences.

She has a legal right to request to see who has viewed her child's records. If the Privacy Officer is telling people that she did so, he/she won't be the Privacy Officer for very long. The only consequences will be for who leaked that information, which by the way, won't happen. Privacy Officers are well versed on confidentiality and being discreet, it is the entire basis of their position.

 

[Tam1067]

Her son's life is already tough. There is no way in hades I would let an adult get away with participating in the harassment of my child by way of breaking a law (in addition to the kids)!! The ultimate goal is to stop the adult from accessing her child's records and running her mouth about it. He has a right to privacy and no small town talk would stop me from seeing to it that my child had that right enforced!

There is no excuse in letting someone get away with that, because if there is no consequence it will continue (if she in fact did it). To look away would be EXTREMELY unacceptable to me.

 

[Disney Doll]

I think that depends on the hospital. Most places would contact her because she deserves to know what has happened for risk management purposes. She may not know the details of your child or your name however.

I think that if you are going to go through with contacting the hospital, to expedite the process - you need to be brave enough to just call out the name of the person you are accusing so it can be taken care of once and for all. No dancing around it.

It has nothing to do with bravery. It also has nothing to do with accusing anyone. I would think the OP would be smart enough not to accuse someone of something without having proof.

It has to do with asking the hospital for a list of people who accessed the child's medical record. There is absolutely no need whatsoever to say "I'd like to see if ER MD Mom looked at my son's record". If the hospital presses and asks why she wants the information, the simple response is "because I'd like to see who accessed my son's record". They cannot refuse to give you the information. They certainly might try and worm it out of the OP, but the OP should be prepared to just keep repeating "I'd like to see who accessed my son's record". Period end of discussion.

Again, if the ER MD mom did NOT access the record, then the hospital would not be contacting her because her name would not be in any way associated with the record. The people on the list might be contacted...ie-"Mrs OP wants a list of who looked at her son's medical record, do you know of any issue?" but anyone who was directly involved in his care and needed to look at the record has nothing to fear.

Really people, this isn't as sinister or as complicated as you're all making it.

Get the list of who looked at the record.

If ER MD Mom's name is on the list then the next decision needs to be made as to reporting it to the authorities or speaking directly to ER MD Mom.

If ER MD Mom's name is not on the list, the matter is closed unless the OP decides to have the guidance counselor speak to the child with regard to how blabbing that her mother looked at someone's record without authorization (when Mom didn't) can get Mom into a lot of trouble.

 

[focusondisney]

If the OP requests to see who accessed her son's records and it is a small community, it will get around. If life is tough for OP's son now, imagine adding that inquiry into it. The OP is free to do whatever she feels is right, not exactly sure what the OP's ultimate goal is. If the hearsay is wrong and the OP's actions are revealed to the doctor/parent, the OP will have to live with the consequences.

Now how would that possibly get around? And who would care anyway? "Gee Bobby's mom asked to see his medical record & who has looked at it". Really? People are saying a doctor has better things to do than look up some kids record, but you think the "community" has nothing better to do than gossip about her family? Maybe in Mayberry in the 60s, but 2013, I don't think so.

Op, I think you are making the right decision. Ask for the list & go from there. If for no other reaon than to put your son's mind at ease.

And as a nurse in a hospital, I'll say I believe it could have happened. there have been a few high profile medical cases in our city. Medical professionals have been found to have accessed or tried to access those records. And suffered the consequences.

Good luck & please, come back & let us know what you find out. I'm sure we're all gonna be interested in the outcome.

 

[sam_gordon]

Something to consider OP...

Do you know "Dr. Mom's" name? She may or may not be using the last name of the DD spreading the rumors. Just something to keep in mind as you look at the list.

 

[Caropooh]

I haven't seen this addressed any where yet. Does the HIPPA law even allow the OP to see who has viewed her son's records? I know that with our doctors office (multi doctor/office health care system) we have an online system where we can make appts, check test results, leave messages for doctor, request prescription refills, etc. My DD13's acct was disabled once she turned 13 due to HIPPA. Once she turns 18, she can have an acct again. Trust me I went round and round with them on it, it's crazy. It's all due to privacy.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I haven't seen this addressed any where yet. Does the HIPPA law even allow the OP to see who has viewed her son's records? I know that with our doctors office (multi doctor/office health care system) we have an online system where we can make appts, check test results, leave messages for doctor, request prescription refills, etc. My DD13's acct was disabled once she turned 13 due to HIPPA. Once she turns 18, she can have an acct again. Trust me I went round and round with them on it, it's crazy. It's all due to privacy.

The privacy is to protect the patient, it is not to protect the staff.