You wanna know one reason healthcare is so jacked up??

[Devildoc]

I work at a hospital in central NC. Not to toot our own horn, it's a big, well-known hospital. I am the Nurse Coordinator for a very busy, very specialized service which sees patients from around the world. In order to get a leg in the door, we need specific information, and we need images (i.e., MRIs). Prospective patients or their referral docs mail records and images to us. I found out this morning that our former mail guy left and the new one didn't even know where our office was located; no one had delivered mail to us, or picked up any of our mail...for DAYS, and no one had trained him!! Apparently the new guy was dropping off our mail at other radiology offices, assuming it would eventually get to us. You know if something this stupid-simple can be broke here, it can be broke anywhere.

If it wasn't Friday and I wasn't on the smiling side of the weekend I wouldn't be so amused, but today, this is some funny shit....

 

[Dame]

Which is why I get DVDs, reports, film, results e-mailed to me, etc., before leaving the radiology/imaging center. I ended up developing a database for my son with his doctors, tests, medical groups, you name it, and carrying it around in a Surface. I have emailed missing documents to doctors from right in their own offices.

 

[Devildoc]

Which is why I get DVDs, reports, film, results e-mailed to me, etc., before leaving the radiology/imaging center. I ended up developing a database for my son with his doctors, tests, medical groups, you name it, and carrying it around in a Surface. I have emailed missing documents to doctors from right in their own offices.

I encourage patients to do this; unfortunately, we can't give patient this info (well, I can't). We have to funnel anything other than same-day notes to medical records. Our patients can also see our information on a portal which has just about everything we do. The limiting factor and weak link is referral information coming to us.

I tell patients it is my practice from the Navy: have copies of everything.

 

[trin]

Apparently the new guy was dropping off our mail at other radiology offices, assuming it would eventually get to us.

Isn't that a potential (or actual) HIPAA violation?

 

[Devildoc]

Isn't that a potential (or actual) HIPAA violation?

No healthcare info on the outside of the packages, just names and addresses.

 

[DocIllinois]

Isn't that a potential (or actual) HIPAA violation?

Actual HIPAA violation. The Rad Dept. employees now have direct access to information that should be secure, and that they have no need of possessing.

 

[Devildoc]

Actual HIPAA violation. The Rad Dept. employees now have direct access to information they have no need of possessing.

It was our mail, actually had our address: they just had to get it to us. As far as anyone knew, the senders weren't patients; they could be anyone.

We have a convoluted mail system: rooms 1515A and 1515B are in different locations, etc. Radiology has offices that had been storage closets. We get other rad services' mail, too...we see who it's going to, and just walk it over.

 

[TLDR20]

Actual HIPAA violation. The Rad Dept. employees now have direct access to information that should be secure, and that they have no need of possessing.

It is only a violation if they open the package and read the disc.

 

[Devildoc]

It is only a violation if they open the package and read the disc.

In true Healthcare fashion, if they actually could do that legally and ethically, the disks would get uploaded faster, and turnaround time would get shorter.