mgriffiths Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Pretty sure I know the answer here, but thought I would put it out there: Situation: I was voluntold to cover one of our UCs (a different, long, frustrating story) and had a telemed visit this morning for a mid-20s female with mild symptoms, questionably consistent with COVID. During the visit she told me her father went to the ER for respiratory symptoms. He was tested for COVID but she hasn't heard his results yet (she is in regular contact with her father). Is it a HIPAA violation for me to enter the father's chart to see the results of his COVID test to know whether she was actually exposed to further guide my decision-making about testing? Result: I didn't look in his chart and went ahead and ordered her a test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 If he is not your patient and if he didn't give permission to look into his chart, I would say no: you shouldn't look at his test results. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgriffiths Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 7 minutes ago, UGoLong said: If he is not your patient and if he didn't give permission to look into his chart, I would say no: you shouldn't look at his test results. That was my assumption as well, and even if people here thought it was ok I would have confirmed before actually doing it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted October 19, 2020 Moderator Share Posted October 19, 2020 nope can't look think, maybe you see he is HIV +, and a slew of other things even though you were just looking for COVID results.... would need specific permission from him to enter his chart.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted October 19, 2020 Administrator Share Posted October 19, 2020 The above are correct. If she'd pushed, I would have had her have him call and get the results and share them with her--trivial for a patient to get their own results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgriffiths Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 29 minutes ago, rev ronin said: The above are correct. If she'd pushed, I would have had her have him call and get the results and share them with her--trivial for a patient to get their own results. She wasn't asking for me to look, it was simply a thought that crossed my mind, and while I rightly figured it would be a violation it also felt innocuous. Also aware that giving her his results without a release in his chart would be a violation as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.