In: Nursing
One of the Athletic trainers at Alfred University covered a home football game in which the starting quarterback was injured and taken off the field on a stretcher. After the game, the ATC's roommate approached to inquire about his injuries. The ATC proceeded to tell his roommate that the quarterback sustained a tear to his right ACL which would require surgical intervention and therefore put him out for the remainder of the season.
In this situation, did a HIPAA violation occur (please explain your answer)? If so, what are the ramifications of such a breach?
Would you have handled the situation any differently? If so, how?
Yes in this cases HIPAA privacy rule has been breached.The HIPAA Privacy Rule makes the protection and privacy of all health data compulsory. This rule specifically defines the approved uses and disclosures of individually-identifiable health data. this is often the foremost advanced rule, setting necessities for a way protected health data (PHI), in any kind or medium, ought to be controlled.
The fines and charges ar counteracted into two major categories: Reasonable Cause and Willful Neglect. Reasonable Cause ranges from $100 to $50,000 per incident and doesn't involve any jail time. Willful negligence ranges from $10,000 to $50,000 for every incident and might end in criminal charges.
If I would have been at ATC's place i would have never told about the injuries that the quarterback has got as it would have breached the HIPAA laws and might affect the players career.I would have handled the situation by clearly stating my roommate that I can't go beyond laws and can't disclose any information about quarterback without his permission.