HIPAA What Happens After Complaint? (PA)

I am required by my job to have a tuberculosis test yearly, and provide them with the test result information. I recently had this done and requested that my doctor's office fax the information to my employers. The nurse given the task of faxing my test results photocopied and faxed a full page "office visit record" from my medical chart. This page contained information regarding prescription meds that I am currently taking, recent health complaints from my dr. visit, test recommendations and follow up on the testing I had done at the hospital, blood tests that were ordered, and their results; and the documentation of the conversation between my dr and myself.

The information shared was not "damaging", but it did mention panic attacks and an antidepressant that I am on. This is not something I particularly wanted my employer or my colleagues to be aware of.

When I discovered that this information had been shared, I contacted the office and spoke to the physician who is the director at the facility. He was very apologetic, of course, but that doesn't take away the fact that the information was shared.

I would like to know what will happen if I file a complaint. Will the nurse involved be disciplined? Will the entire facility be fined, etc., because of the carelessness of this one employee?

Thanks for any information provided,
Sherry in PA

C'mon Guys/Gals - I was counting on ya!

No one is willing to venture an opinion or offer information on what will happen if I were to file a hipaa complaint? I lurk here now and then and have always found ya all just a bit more chatty!

I don't mean to sound offensive, but the information that you are seeking is very easily attainable via almost any communications network, including the Internet. A simple Google or other search engine query and you can find everything you ever need to know about HIPAA.

Here is a webpage from the United States Department of Health and Human Services regarding HIPAA and the pertinent aspects:

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/

Hope it will help, but next time, please allow yourself to engage in at least some sort of research.

If you file a HIPAA complaint, they will investigate the complaint. How should we know what will happen after that? You say you have no damages so there is not cause of action. You have spoken to the head of the clinic, he will take some aciton, most likely reminding employees. You gave them permission to transmit the information, it is not like they gave it to someone without your permission. Perhaps you can get the copy transmitted and blank out the other information.

Who Peed in Your Cheerios?

Wow! You people are incredibly rude! The title of the message board is Free Advice Forums. That means that people come here seeking advice from others who may be more knowledgeable in certain aspects of the law than they personally are.

I was not asking for a link to a page that described HIPAA policy. I was hoping that someone familiar with the law could explain to me what the likely scenario would be if I were to file a complaint. I like the medical center that I visit and would prefer not to cause major problems for the entire clinic, however, I do believe that the nurse who made the error should be fined.

FYI, I did NOT give permission for the information on my medical record to be transmitted. I gave permission for the results of a TB test to be transmitted. Nothing more. There is no question that the law was violated, and the director of the medical center agrees that this is a fact. I was not asking if anyone here thought my rights were violated. I simply wondered if anyone had knowledge of actual compliance violations and their outcome.

Thank you for nothing. Please feel free to go back to sniping at one another now.