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can a doctor discuss a child’s diagnosis in a hospital waiting room?
when my child was born, the hospital’s pediatrician told my husband about a medical condition she might have in the middle of the waiting room where we had other family members around. she didn’t wait until he and i were together in a private area. because of this, family members found out before me and if it had been handled differently, we wouldn’t have told anyone about the condition. but because the doctor discussed it in the waiting room, now our family members know about it. did the pediatrician violate hipaa laws? if so, what can we do about it?
Yes. A doctor can discuss a child’s diagnosis in a waiting room with the child’s parent. There was no requirement that the doctor wait until she could discuss this with you and your husband at the same time. Your husband could have asked to speak to the pediatrician in private – but he apparently did not. It would be reasonable for the doctor to say that she assumed she had permission to discuss this matter in front of the family members because your husband didn’t give her any indication that this was a problem.
Additionally, if the pediatrician had asked to speak to your husband privately (which, perhaps she should have done), this would have alerted the family members to the problem and they would have pounced on him the moment he would have returned to the waiting room. You say that you wouldn’t have told anyone about the condition, but I’d be willing to bet that you husband would have stepped right back into the waiting room and told the family members what was going on.
Frankly, you should let this go. You are not going to get a big pay day based on the facts that you have described. And, unless you believe the pediatrician acted with malice (which is ridiculous), then you should focus your attention on things that really matter. If it really IS that big of a deal to you, meet with the pediatrician privately and tell her how you feel about what she did. THAT will have a bigger impact on how she handles future diagnoses than any other fuss you try to kick up.
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