4 Common HIPAA Violations and Tips To Prevent Them

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) gets violated every day, usually not through malice but through carelessness. Here are four of the most common violations and how to avoid each one.

1. Gossiping

Gossip by itself is not a HIPAA violation, but talking loudly about a patient and their situation at the nurses' station where anyone can hear is. So is telling friends or family about a patient outside work. Nurses see strange, disturbing, memorable things, and the urge to share is real. Resist it. Even without a name, a patient can be identified by their circumstances.

2. Being nosy

Access is not permission. You can open records you have no clinical reason to read, and the temptation spikes when the patient is famous or in the news. The moment you open a chart you do not need, it is a violation. That curiosity can cost you a heavy fine, your job, and in some cases jail time. Stay out of charts that are not yours to read.

3. Disclosing information to the wrong party

A "family member" or "friend" calls asking about a patient's status, and a staff member takes them at their word and answers. Without the patient's permission, that is a violation, and it happens most often over the phone, where anyone can claim to be anyone. Verify identity first. Many facilities assign designated contacts a password they give before any information is released. Learn your facility's policy and follow it.

4. Leaving information out in the open

A nurse or physician gets pulled into an emergency and walks away with the chart still open. Anyone passing by can read it or take it. Close the chart and put away any paperwork with protected health information before you leave the station, every time.

The steps are simple. Keep patient conversations private, stay out of records you do not need, verify before you disclose, and never leave information exposed. Privacy and confidentiality are part of the care you owe every patient.