what would you do?

I was unpacking a box and I found a bunch of charting notes for the hospital BM#2 worked at. Now I know ethically I should call the hospital and turn them in to them.

My mother says I should give then to FDH to deal with. I'm afraid he will hand them back to BM. Right now we thinly she is suing us for custody. We find out tomorrow. He could use them against her but that would be wrong. I thinly she could lose her nursing license over this. I'm not sure but I would guess that she would be in some deep shit for taking paperwork with patient names and charting notes on them home and keeping them for 7 years.

So what should I do? I also worry as to what the fallout will be on FDH and I. Obviously BM didn't remember she took them since she left them behind when she walked out.

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I'm with confused. It's

I'm with confused. It's morally AND ethically wrong. And not to mention violation of a HIPPA law

I think so but I am not

I think so but I am not positive.

Doesn't matter. HIPAA is

Doesn't matter. HIPAA is being violated by having patient information she's not authroized to have regardless of it's age. She could have microfilmed charts from the 1970's but the laws would still apply.

Thanks ladies. I never

Thanks ladies. I never thought about dropping them off anonymously. If the hospital traces it back to BM#2 I'm worried she will realize it was us that busted her so to speak and retaliate.

Wait until tomorrow, hand

Wait until tomorrow, hand them over to your attorney with an explanation of how they were found and have the attorney return them to the hospital.

1) you know they are returned.
2) you have documentation of the illegal possession without having peoples private information in your hands
3) as it comes from offical channels the hospital will sit up and take notice.

And finally: If my personal/ Medical information was sitting at some nurses house EVER let alone abandoned for god only knows who to get ahold of for whatever purposes: I would want to ensure a) my records were disposed of in a legal manner and b) the idiot responsible for stealing my information FRIED.

No one, my ex nurse or not, has the right to MY information. No one, ex nurse or not has the right to ANY patients private information be it demographics (address, dob, ssn etc) or their medical history. That is a violation of privacy so deep she deserves whatever the hospital throws at her.

She no longer works at the

She no longer works at the hospital, they fired her for calling in sick to many times.

Thats ok, she can still be

Thats ok, she can still be fined by the federal government per infraction(patient) whose information she took.

Forget what the fine is but its like 10k or 25k per infraction to a max of like 200k or 250k.

Let Uncle Sam fry her.

^^^^^^^ THIS THIS THIS_

^^^^^^^ THIS THIS THIS_ CYA!!!!!!!!

I used to work in medical

I used to work in medical billing and this is an excellent suggestion.

I am in love with just his

I am in love with just his wife, she comes up with the best info. Seriously she can be fined??? I wonder if the hospital will sit on it or actually call in the feds. I worry that they will hide the situation. I guess having our attorney hand it over would hopefully put a stop to them sweeping it under the rug.

Medical records are private.

Medical records are private. It's some serious s**t when that privacy is violated. Not only can the BM be prosecuted but the hospital too. They obviously didn't have good controls in place. So if the hospital gets prosecuted and fined, dollars to donuts they will probably sue their former employee.

I can only hope. My mother

I can only hope. My mother said it may have been practice paperwork like they have in the mortgage industry for training purposes. But it looks legit, two whole punched at the top and the hospitals name and then a bunch of patients names and room numbers with why they are in the hospital and then notes on vitals after patients names but only the highlighted ones.

Another form is a list of rules and conditions for the geriatric unit with a patient's name and info along with doctors info. It was like they had a card and imprinted it on the carbonless form. Similiar to credit card imprints.

They are legit. Whether she

They are legit. Whether she sues you for custody or not: Hand those to an attorney and have them returned to the hospital.

To give you an idea of how serious this is: I have seen nurses fired, for dialing a wrong number, they were faxing in a prescription to a pharmacy and dialed another businesses fax machine instead: the info they gave out on that fax? Patient name, DOB, and the medication name and dosage. And that lead to termination. You have diagnosis and treatment plans. Major major major.. can not stress major enough.. No No.

What you are describing is a

What you are describing is a report sheet and they very much frown on nurses taking them home - many nurses forget they are in their scrubs and when you get home you pull it out of your pockets and then forget to take it back to the nursing home. While it can get her in trouble with the hospital it is not as serious as taking a copy of the chart home. In the home I worked in they had a bin for shredding and that is where you were supposed to put the report sheets.

She can be fined, depending

She can be fined, depending on the infraction people can be jailed.

I have seen the nightmare of accidently release of information and the results. This is intention... even IF she folded the paper up stuck it in her pocket at work and forgot about it. Once she got home she knew.. and should have shredded/ burned it then. Instead, she kept it, there is the violation. The keeping.

If it's only a list of names

If it's only a list of names and notes . . .I would toss them. If she took home actually records say

1. doctor orders
2. progress notes
3. patient notes
4. demographic sheets with social security numbers
5. MAR's
6.. lab,ER, imaging reports

Then you've got a damning case on your hands. (You'll
find most things labeled with what they are.)

A few nurses back in the day would carry home something
that told about their shift and patient load and they would
keep it for a while in case questions about care came up.
Haven't seen it done since hippaa tho.

No its about an inch thick

No its about an inch thick sheaf of papers with patients names, room numbers, what their dx is, and handwritten after all that is their vitals handwritten and complaints.

LMAO my friend who is a

LMAO my friend who is a sheriffs deputy is on his honeymoon and he would tell me since I unpacked the box at our new house in another county that I need to go to them. Being this is Alabama the police won't go out of their county to deal with it and it would sit in limbo. I love alabama, really I do. (Not really)

Comments

I'm with confused. It's

I think so but I am not

Doesn't matter. HIPAA is

Thanks ladies. I never

Wait until tomorrow, hand

She no longer works at the

Thats ok, she can still be

^^^^^^^ THIS THIS THIS_

I used to work in medical

I am in love with just his

Medical records are private.

I can only hope. My mother

They are legit. Whether she

What you are describing is a

She can be fined, depending

If it's only a list of names

No its about an inch thick

LMAO my friend who is a

Go to to www.hhs.gov and in

Ok I will keep you all

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what would you do?

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