I ran across this photo in a friend’s facebook album and almost fell out of my chair!  She’d taken a shot of someone’s funny last name on an IV bag. And posted the thing, with name, patient ID, on FACEBOOK!!  Is this a HIPAA breach?

I’ve been working with a lot of hospitals, and have a basic understanding of the importance of keeping patient info confidential.

But actually, no, it’s not! HIPAA applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically (e.g., billing a health plan). These are known as covered entities.

Now let’s hope I’ve doctored the image correctly to hide names!