Question

You are a CMA working in the office of a physician who performs major surgical procedures on hospitalized patients. A patient, who is the father of a friend of yours, comes in for a pre-surgery exam. You happen to know that this man is an alcoholic. You also know that the surgeon you work for does not like to perform surgery on alcoholic patients as he believes they have difficulty healing and often have excessive bleeding after surgery. You wish to tell the surgeon about the man’s drinking problem, but you are afraid that it would be a HIPPA violation.

1. What do you do?
2. Is this a legal and/or ethical problem?
3. Should you discuss your concerns with your friend?
4. What is your first responsibility?
5. What is HIPPA and how does it relate to this scenario?

Answer 1

Case synopsis: Person X is a certified account manager in the office of a physician who is a major surgeon. A patient comes in for the pre-surgery exam; a person who is thefather of Person X’s friend. Person X knows that the patient is an alcoholic and Person X knows that the surgeon would not perform surgery on alcoholic patients. Person X would like to convey the matter to the surgeon. However, he is afraid of HIPPA violation

a  Determine the thing that should be done by Person X: Person X can inform the surgeon about the issue. As the surgeon believes that performing surgery on alcoholic patients would lead to excessive bleeding after surgery, it is for the welfare of patients. Thus, Person X can inform the surgeon about the drinking problem of the patient.

b Determine whether Person X should discuss his concerns with his friend: There is no need for Person X to discuss his concerns with his friend. However, he can discuss them with his friend if he wants to; there is no legal problem with discussing concerns with family members of the patient.

d) Determine the first responsibility of PersonX: The first responsibility of Person X is that he should inform the surgeon about the drinking problem of the patient, as hiding this might lead to serious consequences. Then, he can discuss the problem with his friend (patient’s son).

Conclusion: It is not in violation of HIPAA if Person X informs the surgeon about the drinking problem of the patient. Even HIPAA allows exceptions for some medical situations. When personal information is vital to avoid an adverse medical situation, one can share the personal information of a patient to the doctor.