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I Have a Question: I Have a HIPAA Violation Termination on My Personnel File. Have I Thrown Away My Career?
Chatter1 asked:
I worked for a hospital doing ER charging and coding, my 15 month old grand daughter was admitted to the hospital in Feb. and diagnosed with asthma. In July she started with another attack, my daughter was hysterical when she called my office as she was driving to the baby’s doctor and asked me to look up the baby’s ER record and tell er the name of the medication they gave the baby in Feb. so she could make sure she was given the same medication because it worked immeditaly. I was terminated for this being a HIPAA violation and not following proper chain of command. Have I destroyed my medical billing career for this mistake in judgement?
medical billing online
<BR%20/>Tags: Asthma, Grand Daughter, Medical Career, Chain Of Command, Judgement <BR%20/>I worked for a hospital doing ER charging and coding, my 15 month old grand daughter was admitted to the hospital in Feb. and diagnosed with asthma. In July she started with another attack, my daughter was hysterical when she called my office as she was driving to the baby’s doctor and asked me to look up the baby’s ER record and tell er the name of the medication they gave the baby in Feb. so she could make sure she was given the same medication because it worked immeditaly. I was terminated for this being a HIPAA violation and not following proper chain of command. Have I destroyed my medical billing career for this mistake in judgement?
medical billing online
not if you explain it correctly in your next interview
You never gave away the patient name…or any kind of patient personal information..so no you did not violate HIPAA law
Eh, possibly. All you can do is explain the violation: a technical foul, with your granddaughter’s health at risk. Your workplace sounds like they used this as an excuse to can you, since this is a ridiculous thing to end a career over.
It’s entirely up to the interviewer at your next job. Trying to hide this would be the worst thing you can do. Tell them whaat you did, and why, and hope they’re understanding.
Richard
No, if a new employer does a previous employer check, all the previous employer can say is when you worked there and are you eligible for rehire. Specifics will not come into play.
You would be wise to discuss with new employer the details
Your question sounds too serious for Yahoo-Answers. Are you part of a union? If so, ask them. If not, please spend the money to find out from a lawyer.
Good luck.
You won’t know until you try to get another job.
Since there is a big demand for medical billers, I suspect you won’t have much of a problem, and when they contact your hospital, the only thing the hospital will say is that you are ineligible for re-hire. They won’t tell the reason.
When you apply, don’t put it on the paperwork, but in the interview, you might mention the circumstances and say you’ve learned your lesson–the hard way. And if you go with a private company, you may never have access to the kind of info that you had at the hospital.
** Note: This answer has not created an attorney-client relationship. This is a general discussion of the subject matter of your question and not legal advice. Local laws or your particular situation may change the general rules. For a specific answer to your question you should consult legal counsel with whom you can discuss all the facts of your case. **
I have been out of HR for some time now, but I do not even think that what you did was a HIPAA violation.
I am assuming that your daughter is the legal guardian of the 15 month old, and therefore has the privileges of her baby’s record. It’s not like the baby could call you for that information or anything . . . I would look into that first. Their grounds of termination may be questionable.
Just be honest with the potential employer. They will make their decision based upon what you tell them, along with, not solely with what the hospital tells them.
Good Luck!!
how was this a HIPAA violation?