Dear Cindy – HIPAA Violation Firing?

How egregious can it be to use HIPAA as a reason to terminate? I spoke with a patient at our clinic as she was being registered, since I happened to be in the office area with access to patients. I am not a provider. I was asked to give her a business card. She called a few days later, late at night, to ask if I would meet her. I did not. I did call her back the next day to ask about getting together for a coffee or something. A complaint was filed against me by her with the corporate office, and I was fired about a week later. Was this a good reason to fire me?

Sincerely,

Fired

The only way that I can see the scenario you described as some sort of HIPAA violation is if you went into her medical records in order to find her contact details (e.g., because she hadn't given you her number when she called you). Because if you went into her file with the purpose of finding her contact details so that you could ask her out, rather than doing so with a legitimate purpose, such as for coordination of care or treatment, billing, etc., it would be a violation of her privacy, even if she had previously asked you out.

Otherwise, I don't see how what you described would be a problem, because you did not provide care for her, your card was requested, and you did not initiate contact.