Breach of Confidentiality
Breach of Confidentiality
Advanced Healthcare has strong emphasis on patient satisfaction, convenience and patient privacy. Advanced Healthcare has an EMR and LIS. Advanced Healthcare is a mid-size clinic with an Urgent Care Clinic. The staff in smaller clinics often has multiple functions. The employee involved was a lab tech who generally worked nights and weekends to support Urgent Care. She had access to Electronic Medical Record to be able to search for lab orders. During implementation phase: the lab orders are not all entered in EMR if the provider not present and the learning curve was that the MD compliance with entering an order.
Sherri and her daughter Amanda are Advanced Healthcare patients. The child’s father is married to Advanced Healthcare employee, who is LuAnn a lab tech at AH. LuAnn accessed EMR without permission. LuAnn shared information on Amanda with dad which dad had parental rights. Dad wanted to see his daughter, but mom said “NO.” The dad called the mom and said “Why didn’t you tell me about our daughter’s fainting episodes?” and that is when it started the problem. Sherri called Advanced Healthcare in September of 2002 with complaint of breach of confidentiality. So, Advanced Healthcare responded to the complaint by running an audit. Ascertained LuAnn had been in the records. An investigation was to see if patients have been seen at that clinic, orders for lab, lab results then lab management got involved. An employee file was reviewed to determine if confidentiality agreement was signed, so there was a meeting with the employee and the employment action was taken.
Sherri hired an attorney and sued for: Breach of statutory Rules on confidentiality of Patient Healthcare Records, Breach of Rights Privacy, Breach of physician-patient et al privilege, Breach of Contact, Negligent Supervision and/or Hiring and/or Training, and Failure to maintain standard of care. The judge only allowed negligent supervision and/or Hiring and/or Training.
Advanced Healthcare has strong emphasis on patient satisfaction, convenience and patient privacy. Advanced Healthcare has an EMR and LIS. Advanced Healthcare is a mid-size clinic with an Urgent Care Clinic. The staff in smaller clinics often has multiple functions. The employee involved was a lab tech who generally worked nights and weekends to support Urgent Care. She had access to Electronic Medical Record to be able to search for lab orders. During implementation phase: the lab orders are not all entered in EMR if the provider not present and the learning curve was that the MD compliance with entering an order.
Sherri and her daughter Amanda are Advanced Healthcare patients. The child’s father is married to Advanced Healthcare employee, who is LuAnn a lab tech at AH. LuAnn accessed EMR without permission. LuAnn shared information on Amanda with dad which dad had parental rights. Dad wanted to see his daughter, but mom said “NO.” The dad called the mom and said “Why didn’t you tell me about our daughter’s fainting episodes?” and that is when it started the problem. Sherri called Advanced Healthcare in September of 2002 with complaint of breach of confidentiality. So, Advanced Healthcare responded to the complaint by running an audit. Ascertained LuAnn had been in the records. An investigation was to see if patients have been seen at that clinic, orders for lab, lab results then lab management got involved. An employee file was reviewed to determine if confidentiality agreement was signed, so there was a meeting with the employee and the employment action was taken.
Sherri hired an attorney and sued for: Breach of statutory Rules on confidentiality of Patient Healthcare Records, Breach of Rights Privacy, Breach of physician-patient et al privilege, Breach of Contact, Negligent Supervision and/or Hiring and/or Training, and Failure to maintain standard of care. The judge only allowed negligent supervision and/or Hiring and/or Training.