privacy issue

[mc_nurse]

I was recently a patient in hospital where I work as an agency nurse. Computerized charting programs are used in this facility. Other employees accessed and read my chart while I was being treated. The program enabled me to access my own record and obtain a print out of the employees that acceessed my record and what portions they read. I brought the incident to the attention of the immediate supervisor the next day. Notices detailing the hippa laws were given out with the next weeks paychecks. The employees that accessed my record were spoken to by the supervisor but no diciplinary action was taken. About 2-3 years ago another employee was fired and escorted off of the premises for accessing another employee's record. Not only was my privacy violated but it seems that my privacy was not valued as much as someone else's. Should I obtain a lawyer?

You could yes. You may want to ask for a meeting with hospital supervisors first and see what they have done, and are going to do, about this problem. You could tell them that you may have attorneys become involved.

[mc_nurse]

I had a meeting with the supervisor about a week after the incident. She informed me that she made phone calls to all those that appeared on the printout that were not directly involved in my care. She also said that everyone made an excuse for why they were reading my chart and then told them that future violations of privacy would result in written warnings, suspension, and then termination. In the previous incident that I mentioned above involving another employee was not handled in the same manner. The employee that accessed another's chart was fired and escorted out of the building. Why is my right to privacy less important than someone else's? I was obviously discriminated against. One of the employees that accessed my chart was a supervisor. She accessed my chart twice from her office!!! She read the entire thing twice and never said a word to me that day out of concern. So should I bother scheduling another meeting?...I've had enough!

The top supervisors of the facility would probably intervene if you bring this to their attention; you may also tell them you will file a complaint with your state attorney general's office.

[mc_nurse]

Actually, the director of nursing accessed and read my chart after the incident was reported to her...and nothing. I don't really know why she read my entire chart. All she had to look at was the timeline of who read my chart.