HIPAA Blog

[ Tuesday, November 11, 2008 ]

 

HIPAA Exam Question:


Scenario:
Susie, RN, gets a phone call and the caller ID shows it is coming from Jane (a co-worker). Jane asks how an employee can get a pregnancy test done. Susie tells her to go to the lab and the results will be sent to the clinic and then she can come in to see a provider.
Based on the information Susie assumes that Jane might be pregnant.
Susie sends a text message to Jane's boyfriend and asks "is your girlfriend pregnant?"
Susie did not tell the boyfriend that Jane called about a pregnancy test, or that Jane had the test, or the results of the test, or that Jane came to the clinic. In fact, Susie never saw the test results and did not even know if Jane had the test.
The investigator said that the covered entity obtained individually identifiable health information, the information pertained to a present or future health condition and therefore is PHI. And that since Susie used this information obtained while on duty it was a disclosure.
Do you agree or disagree that this would be a disclosure of PHI?


Jeff [12:57 PM]

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