Patient Consent Gets New Meaning
It's Friday. The weekend is almost here. Friends are coming in from out of town. So of course, I'm gathering all the weird news I can to make for some interesting dinner conversation. And the great debate over patient privacy has turned up two gems:
First up, we have a story out of Omaha, NE, where Health and Human Services (HHS) is butting heads with a county historical society over patient consent. The historical society wants to release burial records from a local cemetery. Problem is, the cemetery is affiliated with a former psychiatric hospital, so anyone buried at the site was assumedly treated at the psych center.
Nebraska HHS argues that opening the burial records without patient consent would violate privacy. Short of hiring a clairvoyant or tracking down kin for the OK, HHS can only hope to protect privacy by keeping the records locked up. But the historical society says burial records should be open. The case goes to the state Supreme Court next week.
If that doesn't get your friends gabbing, take a gander at this report. Ah yes, the limitless possibilities of Facebook has proven all too tempting for two Wisconsin nurses. Faced with the rather unusual case of a patient who had a sex toy lodged in his rectum, the nurses threw compassion to the wind and took photos of his X-rays. Said photos were promptly uploaded to Facebook for all to gawk.
Whether the post was to gripe or joke, the nurses have been slapped with serious consequences; in addition to losing their jobs, they may face charges if investigators decide they violated HIPAA or the patient's rights. The photos didn't include identifying information, but by snapping the shots the nurses copied a part of the patient's medical record without consent.
My suggestion? Next time you want to click and post, stick to a safer subject. I hear fluffy dogs in sweater vests are all the rage.