trinalankford
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I'm not even sure how to sure this on the internet, so I'm turning to you all here.
I work at an office where there is a glass window separating reception from the office (though the glass window is never closed, but that is another story). There are 2 people who work in the "office" part of this physician's office, me and another person. I do the coding, billing, transcription, what I would call back office duties, while she does the scheduling, reception duties, phone, etc. She is full-time and I'm not, so she refers to herself as the office manager. My "office manager" is very good friends with the nurse at the urologist's office next door (I also work part-time there and am EXTREMELY careful to keep that office there and this office here, if that makes sense).
In any case, the office manager was visited this morning by her nurse friend, as she always is, and some records came across the fax for a referral to our office. The office manager pulled them off the fax, laid them on the counter in view of the nurse, and started reading out loud, including patient's name and medical terms. She didn't know what one of the terms meant, so her nurse friend piped up with the definition of the term. The nurse friend then came around through the office so she could see the record without it being upside-down, and she read right off it, all the while the patient's name is glaring straight off it. The office manager even called this patient to schedule the consult while the nurse was standing there.
The office manager was also cross-training someone to fill in for vacation, and literally the three of them stood there and discussed these records, including patient name, medical condition, the office that referred her (because it was from out of town), etc.
I know if I approach her about a HIPAA breach she will fall back on the, "She works in the medical field and has signed a HIPAA agreement." Yes, true, but for the other office. She shouldn't be privy to records in OUR office, should she?
In addition (because I work at both offices, I have duties to both, I believe), the nurse will come to our office because "yet another patient cancelled even though I had everything set out for their procedure, blah, blah, blah...." That should not be shared between offices, should it???
To me, these are obvious things, but I'm one to go.BY.THE.BOOK and have NEVER even "slipped" up. Patient's medical records are sacred grounds to me, so it floors me that they are being so blatant about it. Maybe I'm seeing something that really isn't there? Are these or are they not HIPAA violations?
Of course....I've mentioned the maintenance man to the office manager right after I started, too. He will come into the office, the main part of the office, and sit down in and amongst the charts, records laying on countertops, etc. Office manager said, "He signed a HIPAA confidentiality agreement, so he's okay." (??????)
This is really, really bugging me, and I'm going to talk to her tomorrow, whether or not it ticks everyone off. It will involve my position at two different offices, but I don't see where this is kosher?
Hopefully this isn't too confusing. I have a tendency to type really fast when I'm upset about something.
Thanks for your help!
I work at an office where there is a glass window separating reception from the office (though the glass window is never closed, but that is another story). There are 2 people who work in the "office" part of this physician's office, me and another person. I do the coding, billing, transcription, what I would call back office duties, while she does the scheduling, reception duties, phone, etc. She is full-time and I'm not, so she refers to herself as the office manager. My "office manager" is very good friends with the nurse at the urologist's office next door (I also work part-time there and am EXTREMELY careful to keep that office there and this office here, if that makes sense).
In any case, the office manager was visited this morning by her nurse friend, as she always is, and some records came across the fax for a referral to our office. The office manager pulled them off the fax, laid them on the counter in view of the nurse, and started reading out loud, including patient's name and medical terms. She didn't know what one of the terms meant, so her nurse friend piped up with the definition of the term. The nurse friend then came around through the office so she could see the record without it being upside-down, and she read right off it, all the while the patient's name is glaring straight off it. The office manager even called this patient to schedule the consult while the nurse was standing there.
The office manager was also cross-training someone to fill in for vacation, and literally the three of them stood there and discussed these records, including patient name, medical condition, the office that referred her (because it was from out of town), etc.
I know if I approach her about a HIPAA breach she will fall back on the, "She works in the medical field and has signed a HIPAA agreement." Yes, true, but for the other office. She shouldn't be privy to records in OUR office, should she?
In addition (because I work at both offices, I have duties to both, I believe), the nurse will come to our office because "yet another patient cancelled even though I had everything set out for their procedure, blah, blah, blah...." That should not be shared between offices, should it???
To me, these are obvious things, but I'm one to go.BY.THE.BOOK and have NEVER even "slipped" up. Patient's medical records are sacred grounds to me, so it floors me that they are being so blatant about it. Maybe I'm seeing something that really isn't there? Are these or are they not HIPAA violations?
Of course....I've mentioned the maintenance man to the office manager right after I started, too. He will come into the office, the main part of the office, and sit down in and amongst the charts, records laying on countertops, etc. Office manager said, "He signed a HIPAA confidentiality agreement, so he's okay." (??????)
This is really, really bugging me, and I'm going to talk to her tomorrow, whether or not it ticks everyone off. It will involve my position at two different offices, but I don't see where this is kosher?
Hopefully this isn't too confusing. I have a tendency to type really fast when I'm upset about something.
Thanks for your help!