Selling Patient Information

Selling Patient Information

In April, an employee of UCLA Medical Center was indicted by a federal grand jury for selling a patient’s private medical information to the National Enquirer. Because the patient was a celebrity, the employee decided to browse her medical files although she was not in any way involved in the patient’s care.

The Hollywood star, Farrah Fawcett, was devastated to find her personal information displayed in the Enquirer before she had a chance to break the news of a cancer recurrence to her son.

The administrative employee, Lawanda Jackson, also accessed the medical files of Maria Shriver and at least 60 other patients, mainly celebrities.

Jackson insists she was “just being nosy” and looked at the records out of curiosity, but her bank account says differently. The Enquirer wrote checks to Jackson’s husband for $4,600.

If convicted of selling Fawcett’s information, Jackson could be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Patient privacy is becoming more of an issue every day. Earlier this year, 14 UCLA employees were fired (or resigned or retired) and nine physicians were suspended after they looked at the records of Britney Spears. None of them were involved in her care or had any reason to access her records.

The problem is not just limited to healthcare. Presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John McCain, and Sen. Barack Obama were all recently informed that their passports had been illegally accessed by State Department workers who had no business looking at the files.

In our August/September issue, we’ll be addressing the issue of patient safety, which will include patient privacy. In this issue, however, we’re covering some other topics — your old favorites, constipation and diarrhea, and their pharmaceutical remedies. Additionally, we tackle GI bleeding, the role of GI technicians, and ERCP, as well as the new certification for flexible scope reprocessors.

We’re also offering something else novel in this issue: a new look for EndoNurse. We’re in the process of updating our design, and we’re very excited about the changes being made by our artist, Alejandra Diaz. Check out our updates and let us know what you think!

Here’s to healthy butts and guts,

Kathy Dix

Editor

Reader Survey

A nurse recently sent in a question for her peers (below). To submit your response, e-mail kdix@vpico.com with the subject, “On-call pay.”

What do different parts of the country offer for on-call pay? (RN, LPN, Tech)

— Beverly Greenwald, PhD, MSN, CNS, RN, CGRN, assistant professor of nursing, department of nursing at North Dakota State University