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Some personal information about Sophocles?

Is there action to be taken against an employer disclosing personal health information to other employees?

  • I work at a doctors office where patient confidentiality and HIPPA laws are basically sacred...it is illegal for anyone in my office to disclose personal information regarding any demographics: phone, address, name, age, etc, or health information to other employees or patients. Now with that being said, I am in need of an emergency doctors appointment for personal reasons that is no bodies business but my own and my doctors, however, my insurance states I need a referral from my office in order to see my doctor. I was told I needed to tell the reason to my boss, who is the one responsible for the referrals, in order for it to be correctly sent to and processed by my doctor. I did not see any reason why anyone should know my private information but I told her so she could do the referral. I found out the next morning she told other employees the reason I was seeing the doctor in this emergency situation and now my privacy has been revoked and I am steaming mad. I work with a bunch of girls so of course the information traveled around the office like a gravy boat and now work is awkward and uncomfortable. Is there anything I can do to either punish my employer for spreading my personal and private information, especially with our job depending on the privacy our patients health information, or is it just something I'll have to brush off my shoulders and get over? It may not sound like a huge deal but it's the fact that my privacy has been invaded and basically my emergency situation has been turned into a joke. Thank you for any information you can offer.

  • Answer:

    If you employer is also your primary care doctor your insurance provider is well within their right to require that you have a referral from your doctor. If you are so concerned about your privacy (and you have every right to be) your employer and your doctor don't need to be the same person.

Shannon at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Your boss violated HIPPA laws. Report it.

Talk to an attorney to see the specific situation. I don't understand why your employer is determining if you can see a specialist of not. If if you have self-funded insurance, there should be an administrator determining medical decisions.

First of all, you are not being overly sensitive, your rights were violated it seems. The factor here is that it was a doctor's office that disclosed this information to your co-workers. What I'm not quite understanding is why your employer had to give an okay for the referral unless your primary physician is in the actual office you work for. In that case, it's all the more serious! I have pasted a link that goes over the fines and penalties. There are several other tabs with more information on privacy, rules and requirements on this website also...Note the part on the link below that says "Finally, you should know that your classified medical information may not be shared to your employer and other entities without your consent. Should this information be requested, there has to be a consent form signed by you before the information can be given." This is pertinent to your situation. What they did was irresponsible and may be considered "willful" given the fact that this is a doctor's office amd they should know about the importance of privacy! Good luck to you! http://www.hipaaviolations.net/hipaa-privacy-rule.html The link below gives information on the steps for filing a claim... http://www.ehow.com/how_5462788_report-hipaa-violations.html

well you could be oversensitive, depending on what the problem was. If you had an infection or something simple (might sound bad to you but is easily curable and most women have infections) then it's not a big deal. If on the other hand it's HIV/AIDS or some std that's communicable or if it's cancer or you need a body part removed then it's a case for an attorney to handle the rumors. That is unless you are like looking for funding for cancer or something special (liver transplant) and are broadcasting it so you can get financial help. If whatever the problem is would affect your future employment AND YOU CAN PROVE THAT IT'S BEEN SPREAD (that's the problem, being able to prove it to win a case) then that too is why you would need an attorney.

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