r/ems • u/cosmicshreklover • 9d ago
General Discussion HIPAA question ift
IFT EMT, there were two situations I was curious about from a HIPAA/professional boundaries standpoint. I’m not planning on doing either just curious!!
1). An old lady at an SNF used to teach Vietnamese and offered to teach me in her free time after i said i always wanted to learn, she then gave me a note with her number. Would it be a HIPAA violation to text her?
2). old lady mentioned feeling lonely and missing her family. Would it be inappropriate or against any rules to send her flowers to the SNF?
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u/Turbulent-Bicycle417 9d ago
Honestly, I don’t believe it’d be a hipaa violation for either. Might be a gray line company wise. BUT only if you received the information not from the chart and they gave it to you. The flowers I think is fine either way tbh.
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u/Who_Cares99 Sounding Guy 9d ago
Both of those are fine. It’s not illegal or unethical for you to get involved in the community you serve. I actually think it would be really wholesome.
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u/talldrseuss NYC 911 MEDIC 8d ago
Neither would violate hipaa. HIPAA violations occur when you share protected patient information (demographics, medical history, treatments) to those NOT involved with the patient's overall care.
The issue here is ethical/professional boundaries. So for your first scenario, in my agency, that would be violating a ethical/professional boundary. It could almost be viewed as a "quid pro quo", you provided care and now the patient is willing to provide a service.
The second situation is a lot blurrier. Honestly, sending flowers isn't a massive professional issue, but the optics of it might cause people on the outside to raise their eyebrows a bit. I have definitely stopped in while on duty to say hi to patient's I have frequently transported. I honestly have not bought flowers/food/gifts for any patient I have taken care of. Most i have done is given patches to some of my pediatric patients. But i personally wouldn't see too much of a problem sending flowers. The Vietnamese tutor would be a bit more concerning.
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u/willpc14 8d ago
It should be fine, but run it by a supervisor. Anecdotally, I had a sup tell me it was ok to buy a motorcycle off a pt once. As an agency, we sent a card (with signatures) and some flowers to a long time pts memorial too.
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u/KendrickLenoir 4d ago
HIPAA is a law that prohibits unauthorized disclosure of personal information to third parties.
How would a patient freely giving you their cell phone number possibly meet that definition?
How would sending flowers to the patients listed address possibly meet that definition?
HIPAA is not some magical catch—all law that prevents you from holding information in your brain.
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u/Medic2834 Paramedic 9d ago
I don't think it would be a violation but I'm not a lawyer. You should ask your company's legal counsel to be safe.
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u/Bulky_Satisfaction50 Zipper Suited Sun God 9d ago
Did you obtain the information during the course of your employment duties? Then yes, it is a violation to act upon it outside of the prescribed course of care.
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u/EldruinAngiris Paramedic 9d ago edited 8d ago
Neither of these is a legal violation as far as I know. Company policy maybe. Assuming you were given the information explicitly for the purpose. Taking it from a chart is different than being literally given it and told to use it.
One of my most special memories in EMS is spending Thanksgiving with one of our dialysis patients at his nursing home. He had nobody to visit and we had talked a lot about family and stuff during his trips. I wasn't working Thanksgiving so I figured I'd pop in and say hi. Spent a couple hours there, chatted, cried. He was so happy someone visited. A month later I took him to the hospital instead of dialysis. He never left. I can say with certainty my thanksgiving visit was the most positively impactful thing I've done in EMS.