Irate customer over the Bloodmobile on his street

[Seanette]

Exactly what I was thinking. If the patient is not identifiable in any way - old guy covers a huge number of people - then I don't know that it's any worse than a guy who hadn't bathed in a month came into line and made all the customers gag.

Anyone with more knowledge of that law able to shed any light on it?

To the best of my recollection from my short stint in dental insurance, HIPAA covers any personally identifiable patient info, even such things as name.

The poster did not go over the line, since there is NO way anyone here could match the info to a particular person just on the info posted. The nurse, OTOH, appears to be on rather thin ice, announcing this "person's" history in public (at the company I used to work for, you could get in trouble for accessing someone's info without legitimate job-function need).

I could be less than 100% accurate, so anyone currently working in a medical field probably knows more than I do.

[Argabarga]

Under HIPPA, even healthcare workers need a valid reason to look in a medical file, they can't look just for thier own curiosity, even though they are healthcare proffessionals, they only have access as long as a function of thier job requires it

Localy here, we had a rather famous person admitted to the hospital last month, and after his discharge, several nursing staff were fired for looking at his chart without needing to (they weren't directly involved in his care, I guess they just wanted to see a famous person's admittance papers) , a HIPPA violation to be sure.

[Myra]

Under HIPPA, even healthcare workers need a valid reason to look in a medical file, they can't look just for thier own curiosity, even though they are healthcare proffessionals, they only have access as long as a function of thier job requires it

Localy here, we had a rather famous person admitted to the hospital last month, and after his discharge, several nursing staff were fired for looking at his chart without needing to (they weren't directly involved in his care, I guess they just wanted to see a famous person's admittance papers) , a HIPPA violation to be sure.

EXACTLY. And really, I think if the guy wanted to sue that nurse, he could. She yapped that particular bit of PERSONAL information in front of strangers. She may not have said "MR. SMITH on 123 MAIN STREET, YOU have been tested for AIDS!" but still, that's violating privacy.

Not saying the dude wasn't a douche, but laws are laws. She could've handled that a lot better.

(I used to be a certified nurse's aide, we got this stuff jammed down our throats on a daily basis for good reason.)

[Misanthropical]

I can't donate blood due to anemia, but I did have an emergency blood transfusion a few years ago. It did creep me out a bit getting blood from a stranger, but if I hadn't I wouldn't be alive.

So, for all of you who do and did donate blood, I want to say THANK YOU!

[Horsetuna]

....but you can't donate blood with the Red Cross Drives specifically for an AIDS test. They test all donations for the AIDS virus but that's as a safety precaution to the recipients. It is not a service to the donors. So if he donated blood, even once, it should've been the full donation amount and there would have been nothing to distinguish it from any other donation. The Red Cross doesn't just do free AIDS tests.

For the canadian blood services (now since Red Cross got that bad rap due to tainted blood), you CAN select to not have your donation used to help others.

Its confidential, you just select the NO barcode and your blood is not used. The other barcode is removed and you stick it to the back of the sticker so that they can't tell, then its' discarded.

I dunno why, honestly, but you do have the option in Canada.

I try to donate blood, but a lot of the time my Iron isnt' high enough or my blood pressure

[Azalea]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but how did she get his infromation in the first place? She didn't have his name, right? And since when do you have to donate blood for an AIDS test? Obviously your blood is tested for AIDS when you donate, but don't most people just get a separate test? How did she know he donated to get an AIDS test? If she did manage to get this information, then yes, BIG time HIPAA violation. Just what the world needs....an SC with a valid lawsuit

[Argabarga]

For the canadian blood services (now since Red Cross got that bad rap due to tainted blood), you CAN select to not have your donation used to help others.
(

You can refuse or request your blood not be used w/ a US Red Cross donation as well, same proceedure.

[Rapscallion]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but how did she get his infromation in the first place? She didn't have his name, right? And since when do you have to donate blood for an AIDS test? Obviously your blood is tested for AIDS when you donate, but don't most people just get a separate test? How did she know he donated to get an AIDS test? If she did manage to get this information, then yes, BIG time HIPAA violation. Just what the world needs....an SC with a valid lawsuit

I get the feeling that he bragged about how he was only donating so that he could get the test. How else would anyone know? If he's kept quiet to the attending nurses, nobody would have been any the wiser. If that were the case, then he's the one who started spreading the information.

Rapscallion

[ThePhoneGoddess]

I have never been able to donate blood. Oh, I've tried at least 4 or 5 times, but the people can never find a vein to get blood outta me, which is a shame, as I've got a rather rare blood type. Even when I have to go to the hospital to get blood taken for a test or something, it takes them forever and they usually have to poke me in both arms several times before they can get a vein. And those nurses are much more well trained and experienced than the volunteers for the Red Cross.

I'd make a terrible heroin addict!

[AFpheonix]

Phone goddess, I have that same problem! They did a hematology workup on me when I went into urgent care a month or so back, and even with me sucking down 2 big glasses of water and holding my hands under water as hot as I could stand, I could NOT get a vein to pop up. They finally did a finger prick, but even then, I couldn't bleed very much for them.

[sErOpItH]

Clarification

It is not an "AIDS" test, it is an HIV antibody test, the virus that causes aids.

-cheers

[friendofjimmyk]

They also test for Hepatitis B and C when you give blood.

If you don't want your blood to be given for others....does that mean they hold it just for you? I never knew there was that option...not that I would want that option for myself when I give blood. I do it twice or so a year and I would have a lot of blood saved for myself!

[cheese]

They couldn't hold it just for you.. blood doesn't last very long at all. I think most components only last 5 days.
Whats the point of going blood doning and then not allowing your blood to be given to someone else
You also can't give if you have done anything to put yourself at risk from hepitatis/hiv. Ie going abroad, piercings, injections, etc. The form specifically says "DO NOT USE THIS AS A TEST FOR HIV." So you'd need to go to a doctor and get a test. If he was bragging to the nurses thats why he was there, they should've stopped and got him out of there. Although I suppose they could've written that on his notes so he was banned from coming back.

[Auto]

It is not an "AIDS" test, it is an HIV antibody test, the virus that causes aids.

-cheers

For most people, that's a distinction without a difference.

[MystyGlyttyr]

Both parties definitely at fault, although having broken my share of rules before I would tend to side with the nurse who's doing legitimate good work over the buttmunch who's doing nothing but...well, being a buttmunch. Robin Hood mentality and all that.

I have tried to give blood twice...once I couldn't get as far as the finger pinprick before the nurse herself stopped the test, and the second time was because during questioning it turned out that I had gotten someone else's blood on me within the past year so I was ineligible. (Hmm, so if I ever want to donate blood I have to stop beating up-er, never mind.)

I TRY, I mean, I really and truly sit and psyche myself up and get in there and try to keep up the emotionless walls, but then I catch sight of that needle and I just can't make the reaction stop, I freak out. The first case in question, I was shaking so bad that the nurse looked at me and said "You're not gonna make it, are you, honey?" And I immediately burst into tears because yeah, she was right.

I have a needle phobia that is so overwhelmingly bad that I literally can be reduced to a quivering pile of uselessness at the sight of one. The poor nurse actually had to take me aside to lay down and give me an orange juice anyway just to calm me down. She said she was proud because I had obviously had to work like a dog just to get that far...but I think she was just trying to make me feel better.

...it's a ri-g*****n-diculous fear to have. I've been STABBED six times, for goodness sakes, and I'm still petrified of a little needle.