A patient’s medical record is their own privacy, which is why you need the help of a nurse attorney if you ever got it disclosed. Medical records are confidential because it shows the nature of the patient’s health condition, which can be exploited by certain entities for their own benefit such as profit. It may also place emotional distress to the patient if the said information spreads out to numerous people, especially if those people are connected to the patient.
However, there are times where some nurses might accidentally disclose certain information even though they never intended to directly commit it. On February 17, 2016, an LVN based in Dallas advised his patients to send their full names and dates of birth to his phone number. He was actually using these for a good purpose in order to facilitate requests for clinic appointments. However, the LVN found out quite late that this is against their clinic rules as it may compromise the identity of their patients.
The said violation is quite dangerous because it can place the patients at a potential risk of harm and misuse of their personal information. The incident also lacked any written authorization to collect such records, which constitutes as a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The Texas Board of Nursing took notice of this, which is why the LVN was advised to attend a hearing.
The accidental collection of records was actually a thing that the LVN usually does, which is admitted during the hearing. He was not aware that he was already violating the rules especially when it comes to insurance policies, and was only using the patient’s given information as a means to make appointments more organized. He also never saw this as a means of violating the professional boundaries of the relationship between the patient and the clinic.
Regardless of the excuse provided by the LVN, they still placed his LVN license into disciplinary action. If a nurse attorney was present during the case, a better defense could have been provided to the Board. That’s why you should hire Nurse Attorney Yong J. An, one of the finest professionals who can guarantee you help. All you need is to contact him at (832) 428-5679 for further assistance.