I had a problem about a week ago which required a trip to the ER. Everything turned out fine and I was sent home.
Today, my regular doctor’s office (who I did not see about this issue, and in fact, haven’t seen in almost two years) called my house when I was not home, and spoke to my mother.
The person on the end of the line, I’m assuming a secretary, disclosed to my mother that I went to the ER, which hospital, and when it happened. She also stated that they had the results of my pap smear (which I didn’t have) and asked if I wanted to make an appointment with their gynecological office in regards to the issue (it was of that nature).
My mother had known nothing of the trip or the problem and I didn’t plan on discussing it with her, I’m pretty damn irritated about this.
I want to call the office and raise a small fuss, but while it’s a personal matter, I’m not sure if any of this information is considered “private”.
So, do I have a valid complaint here, or is this just normal yet annoying procedure? I’m fairly sure that it doesnt cross any legal boundaries, but aren’t there some kind unwritten ethics in play here?
I’m sure it’s important to note that I am not a minor and that the insurance used to cover the trip was not under my mother’s name.
God damn right it is. You have a major, legitimate complaint on your hands. Peruse this site, and when you talk to them, say “HIPAA” in an angry tone. A lot.
I will give your doctor’s office an A+ in promptness. They have the results of your pap smear test even before you take it. That could save of the costs as well, no need to have the test if you can know the results.
I will guarantee you, unless the secretary is the Dr’s niece, she’s going to get (at best) severely talked to and (at worst) fired. Everything, INCLUDING your name, is protected under patient privacy. Unless your mother mislead the secretary into thinking she was you, you have grounds for a lawsuit.
Please make a fuss at the Dr’s office. Maybe it didn’t matter so much to you, but what about the next patient who’s (for example) trying to hide a pregnancy from an abusive parent or husband?
Are you sure that it isn’t illegal? I don’t know about the US, but here it is even a crime, carrying “up to a year in prison, or a fine”. Anyway you have a very serious complaint. At least let them know how you think about it. What they did is just totally unacceptable. Even if it did not cause you much harm in this case, that isn’t their decision. There could be countless reasons why you want to keep a treatment private.
It is definitely illegal. It violates HIPAA. I’d definitely call and make a fuss, if not for yourself, then for the next person it happens to. You don’t have to be nasty about it but you should stress very firmly that what the employee did was extremely wrong, inappropriate, thoughtless, AND illegal.
That was toally out of lin. At MOST they should have said “Is Bre’r Lappin at home? This is Dr So-and-so’s office, could she call us back at her convenience?”
That way you have the option of saying that they were calling to update their files/check your insurance details/ make an appointment for your annual check up, and your privacy is maintained.
Ideally they’d just say “Is Bre’r Lappin at home? No? I’ll call back later.”
Not only should you fuss for the sake of your fellow patients (beyond your own privacy), but Miss Nursey-Poo is committing a crime that has Severe Penalities and she should be warned. Also, her employer, the doctor, is now open to legal problems because of this, so s/he should also be informed of these goings-on.
Did you, at any time during your visit, answer the question about who they could leave information with at your home number with ‘yes, my mom’ or somesuch?
In my experience these days that question is always asked. “Can we call your home number with information?”, “Can we leave it on an answering machine?”, “Who may we leave it with at that number?”
Bre’r Lappin, is there any chance that you signed a Release of Information allowing the doctor’s office to talk to your mom?
When my wife became a patient at Dr. Thisnthat’s clinic, she signed a Release of Information authorizing them to talk to me. She did this so they’d be able to notify me of her appointments in case I answered the phone and she wasn’t home. Or in case she was, you know, dead or something. Now I get phone calls that go like this:
THEM: Can I speak to Mrs. HeyHomie please?
ME: She’s not here. Can I take a message?
THEM: This is Dr. Thisnthat’s office. Can you please tell her that her stool sample was negative?
ME: :eek:
I suppose you could call and ask that the Release of Information, if there is one, be rescinded immediately.
However, the health care worker, even if they have permission to leave a message at the home number, is required to consider the minimum amount of information required to be left when not speaking to the patient directly - either leaving a message with a family member or leaving a message on the answering machine. When I went through HIPAA training at work, one of the “HIPAA violation” scenarios was leaving a message on an answering machine about a female patient’s positive pregnancy test; the scenario showed the patient’s husband playing the message and being obviously surprised by it. We are encouraged to leave the doctor’s name and number, the institution’s name, and sometimes the clinic name. All other references are supposed to be vague - “your appointment,” “your results,” “the doctor wanted to speak with you,” etc.
