Health Information Management

Jury to determine if HIPAA violation was just cause for firing NJ secretary

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, December 31, 2007

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!

An appellate court decided on December 21 that a jury will determine if Christ Hospital in Jersey City, NJ wrongly fired secretary Elia Serrano from her job because of a HIPAA violation, according to a December 22 article by the Associated Press (AP), as seen in the New Jersey Courier-Post online.

The hospital fired Serrano for violating the HIPAA privacy rule after she warned a school that one of its students may have been exposed to meningitis. Serrano's lawyer, Mitchell D. Perlmutter, says that federal regulations allow PHI disclosures in the interest of public health. Christ hospital's attorney, Irving L. Hurwitz, maintained that Serrano violated hospital policy by releasing medical information, and that the hospital's policy states that it can fire violators, according to the AP article.

For more information, click here.



Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!

  • Briefings on APCs

    Worried about the complexities of the new rules under OPPS and APCs? Briefings on APCs helps you understand the new rules...

  • Medical Records Briefing

    Guiding Health Information Management professionals through the continuously changing field of medical records and toward a...

  • Briefings on Coding Compliance Strategies

    Submitting improper Medicare documentaion can lead to denial of fees, payback, fines, and increased diligence from payers...

  • Briefings on HIPAA

    How can you minimize the impact of HIPAA? Subscribe to Briefings on HIPAA, your health information management resource for...

  • APCs Weekly Monitor

    This HTML-based e-mail newsletter provides weekly tips and advice on the new ambulatory payment classifications regulations...

Most Popular

Related Articles