hipaa violation.

[cetiya]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place but since im worried about being fired, this made sense.

I work in a hospital and right now im in the urgent care downstairs from where i work.
I smoke weed and havent informed anyone here because if its known, ill be fired. Can an RN in urgent care tell my bosses i smoke weed or are they bound by Hipaa? Im afraid of them doing a tox screen or accessing my records. I told the doc here i do not give permission for her to try to access my old records and she said she wouldnt. Im just nervous.

 

[commentator]

Okay, so you work at a hospital in some capacity, but you are using their urgent care facility (downstairs) to be treated for something non-work related, right? And you are concerned that they will do a blood test that will show you are using marijuana during your treatment, and that they'll pass that information on to your supervisors in the area where you work, right?

You do understand that if you live in an at will state, you can be fired at will whether they have a "good reason" or not, don't you? You have neglected to tell us what U.S. state this is occurring in.

 

[cetiya]

Okay, so you work at a hospital in some capacity, but you are using their urgent care facility (downstairs) to be treated for something non-work related, right? And you are concerned that they will do a blood test that will show you are using marijuana during your treatment, and that they'll pass that information on to your supervisors in the area where you work, right?

You do understand that if you live in an at will state, you can be fired at will whether they have a "good reason" or not, don't you? You have neglected to tell us what U.S. state this is occurring in.

Sorry, its wa. Im in here for high blood pressure.
Can the urgent care nurses tell my co workers im positive for mj? Would that be a hipaa violation?

 

[Taxing Matters]

Can an RN in urgent care tell my bosses i smoke weed or are they bound by Hipaa?

Of course the RNs are bound by HIPAA. Your problem is that the information that you smoke weed is not protected health information (PHI) when the RN learns of it simply by seeing you step outside to smoke it or whatever. In that case the fact that you smoke weed is not part of your medical records. If you make the disclosure to the RN when asked about it while being treated for a medical issue, on the other hand, that is PHI and disclosure of that is subject to the HIPAA rules. So the context of how the nurse learns of you smoking weed matters.

 

[cetiya]

Of course the RNs are bound by HIPAA. Your problem is that the information that you smoke weed is not protected health information (PHI) when the RN learns of it simply by seeing you step outside to smoke it or whatever. In that case the fact that you smoke weed is not part of your medical records. If you make the disclosure to the RN when asked about it while being treated for a medical issue, on the other hand, that is PHI and disclosure of that is subject to the HIPAA rules. So the context of how the nurse learns of you smoking weed matters.

Ok. Thats good to know. I havent disclosed it to anyone. They didnt do a tox screen so it shouldnt be an issue. Thanks!

 

[Just Blue]

Ok. Thats good to know. I havent disclosed it to anyone. They didnt do a tox screen so it shouldnt be an issue. Thanks!

Are you a nurse? Doctor? Will you drug use pose potential harm to others?

 

[cetiya]

Never. I am a professional. And im not a RN or Dr.