HIPAA & Free Speech clash at Mississippi’s University Medical Center
A simple tweet has sparked a HIPAA compliance and public relations mess at Mississippi’s University Medical Center, and an administrative assistant is out of a job as a result, reports a local TV station.
The controversy began when Mississippi governor Haley Barbour posted this tweet on his Twitter page: ”Glad the Legislature recognizes our dire fiscal situation. Look forward to hearing their ideas on how to trim expenses.”
“Schedule regular medical exams like everyone else instead of paying UMC employees over time to do it when clinics are usually closed,” tweeted UMC administrative assistant Jennifer Carter. She had heard that the governor had come into UMC for a physical one Saturday three years ago, and that the clinic had to be staffed up with 15-20 workers just for his visit.
Next: Carter paid dearly …
Two days later, Carter…
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January 7th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
At first blush, based on the limited information in the story…it sounds more like political fall-out/punishment than an appropriate response to that degree of HIPAA violation. I can see the potential for an administrative person to not begin to correlate that level of non-detail as PHI. It would be interesting to know the organization’s policies/training and track record for integrating HIPAA as well as their track record for other violations…