You are working as an Office Manager in the Radiology Department at St. Valentine's Hospital. You have been there for ten years and you are used to the chatter from other staff as patients check in and/or are called. You vaguely remember that each year you sit through a privacy lecture on HIPAA but it doesn't change any behaviors. The office is super busy and you don't really think about changes.

Last week, you received a complaint from a patient. The patient's brother was in the waiting room when he overheard a call to his sibling. Jack Jones' sibling is transgender and identifies as Julian. Jack hears the staff make a phone call to Julian (whose name on his birth certificate is Jillian). The staff calls Jillian and refers to her as Jillian. After loudly informing Julian of the results of her xray, the tech got off the phone and loudly stated to her fellow staff "I can't believe that patient constantly wants me to call her Julian. As if I am supposed to remember every nickname someone wants to be called." Other staff members giggled and made sarcastic comments. Jack heard every one of them and has reported them all to you.

You need to determine what his next step is to go to the Hospital Ethics Board. Your HR Director has asked you to plan to explain what happened, why it was wrong, and how we can make a better plan for the future.

Included in your plan should be

• a thorough analysis of HIPAA and patient privacy laws
• Why the above scenario violated HIPAA
• How the office can be retrained to not violate this in the future
• What kind of legal penalty is the hospital facing
• How should the hospital and yourself respond to the Jones