Thursday, May 13, 2010

Patient Privacy

Just thought I should let you all know that any child I mention by name is only done so with the permission/request of the child's family.  I know there are strict patient privacy laws, so I wanted to let you all know that I am only sending along prayer requests by name from those who come to me to ask me to do so.  We have been beyond blessed with the prayer army God has raised up for Chrissie so it is an awesome privilege for me to pass along prayer requests from families here who specifically have requested prayers for their loved ones.
Edit:  I removed names and details on previous posts for protection of the patient, even though the parents had asked me to ask you for specific prayer requests.  From here on out, I will be generic in prayer requests, even if families ask me to share specific requests, for the protection of all involved.  God knows the needs here.  Thank you for praying!

9 comments:

Debi said...

Thought twice about this issue and opted to not put these other children's names on prayer chains etc without their families consent.
Please let us know if the families would want their children prayed for by prayer chains, facebook or small prayer groups.
Love and hugs and prayers,
Debi

Wendi Taylor said...

I hope no one actually thought you would do that without permission...

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why its not ok to put their names if their parents said they were ok with it.

Anonymous said...

When you talk about privacy laws, I believe you are talking about the HIPPA act. HIPPA is in place to protect patient privacy so that not just anybody can gain access to a persons medical records. A patients medical information can only be released to that person, the parent of a minor, or another facility where the patient is being transferred in order to facilitate the continuum of care. Any hospital staff, upon employment, must sign a HIPPA contract stating they will uphold the standards of patient privacy. Any violation of this privacy act can result in legal action and up to $25,000 fine. Employees of the hospital are bound by this contract, but as a patient or family of a patient, you are not and thus are not subject to any legal ramifications. Asking for prayers for other patients, with parents permission, is not a HIPPA violation nor is it morally and ethically wrong. You are uniquely connected with these other parents by your similiar situations and God put you in each others lives fir a reason. You asking for prayers for other patients, (with permission from their parents), is no different than people starting a pray for Chrissie facebook page with your permission. It makes me sad to think that people would be upset about you asking for prayers for other patients by name because they think it is a violation of privacy. You asking for prayers for other children is completely selfless and shows your true nature and love, trust and faith in the Lord, especially when your daughter is so sick. It amazes me that while Chrissy is so sick, you are able to see the needs of others and ask for prayers on their behalf. You are so blessed to have your website that thousands of people have access to. It is not wrong to use that as a tool to help others as well. I will continue to pray for your sweet Chrissy and Ethan and for anyone else that you ask for prayers for. As a mother I can't imagine what you must be dealing with and I pray that God continues to bless you and your family.

Lynn said...

It's a fine line, I guess, between safely sharing prayer requests when we've been asked to do so and running the risk of potentially putting others in harms way. I hate that we live in a society and age when this is such a big concern. On-the-other-hand, we are blessed to have all the conveniences that go with it, including the medical care.

Thank you for finding a way to let us pray for these others without making their situations too public - and for continuing to let us pray alongside you for Chrissie, you, and your family.

Donna said...

How about just making up a name for the children. Something like a character name from children's books, or Disney, etc. God knows who we're praying for but the name would help us keep the children straight in our mind as you share updates.

I hope nobody scolded you for sharing the first name of the child.

Kiss that sweet baby girl and tell her lots of people love her.

Donna

Bridget said...

It's kind of you to be considerate of the other children's privacy, but HIPAA privacy laws apply to "covered entities", i.e. health plans, health care providers, etc. Consumers are not bound by the laws,but are protected by them...

Anonymous said...

With all you are going through I'm sorry someone/some people even made this an issue for you.
Megan

Blogging Friend said...

Lorraine,

I normally email you instead of leaving messages on here but this time I feel the need to do it hear.

I am not sure why this came up for I read comments and I never saw anything on it.
Yes there is a Patient Privacy Law that is for Health Care Professionals and others that would have access to the patients records.
However, if a patient or family member tells another person (other than employee of Hospital) about the patient and then ask for prayer request then it is perfectly okay to talk about it.
So you have done nothing out of line. There is nothing different from you writing about these kids (as you stated with the parents consent) than one of us asking for others to pray for Chrissie and including your blog address to the request.
I know for a fact that the other day I was with a church group of folks and I asked for prayers for Chrissie, yes I told some information but like you I did not go into great detail of everything. My facts were:
1). She was adopted knowing she had serious heart problems
2). She had her Heart Surgery and had some severe complications, and almost did not make it.
3). She has been on life support that actually took over her heart and lungs
4). She is off the above high power life support but still on the Ventilator which is still a form of Life Support.

So again I did not go into great deal of information. You also have asked for prayer request to go out. It is also human nature to want to know a little information so that people can feel for these patients and also send up the right prayers.

So again you have done nothing wrong. It is not like you are running around the ICU looking at patients and their charts and then telling us stuff.
In the case of little boy that needs to get to Houston, his family is talking to you and that is how you know that information, the hospital would not let you go around reading charts. GET REAL HERE!
I do not think that people who have never been in a position that you are in, realize that a lot of times families of patient's lean on each other. This is their strength because some do not have anyone else to be there for them. Some families become life long friends after meeting like this.

So please do not worry about what you are saying. We do need to know what to pray for on these little ones.

Sorry this is so long but I it really upset me!

Love,
Sheila

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