Being accused on YELP has consequences?
Does it? Such as?
The guy did violate the living daylights out of HIPAA:
They posted my entire medical record, including notes about my mental health, my bills, my insurance info, my driver’s license, birth date and home address
Source. (Wouldn’t usually cite NYP but this is a quote from the defendant.)
He may have had an argument if he had just sued her. He probably would have even been fine replying to the review - she voluntarily publicly identified herself as a patient. That is at least defensible. Outright publicly sharing an enormous amount of her PHI? He could (and should) lose his license.
His reviews were actually pretty good before this! This one review absolutely did not cause $1mm in damages, one sour patient isn’t going to ruin you. There are dozens of better ways he could have handled this.
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Not so, as we were told by our lawyer. The patient can say whatever they please, including claiming to be a patient when they are not. Confirming or denying that someone is a patient at our practice would be a HIPPA violation subjecting us to pretty damned enormous fines. In essence, we were told all we could do was sit back and take it. No other options could be safely pursued.
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If that really happened, she’s got great grounds to sue him.
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I actually work in med tech / marketing and have HIPAA training, so I’m not just pulling that out of my ass. There are ways to respond that neutralize the review without violation confidentiality. The best tact is to be generic and address specific issues in their review. “We strive to make sure everyone who comes into our office understands all aspect of care, including their insurance benefits. Any patients with questions about their bill can call us and ask for Jane, our billing specialist.” And even if there was an issue (perceived or actual), it can be more easily remedied and the penalty could be as minor as a $100 - $1,000 fine.
There are a good number of guidelines available online for doctors, including many published by medical associations.
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IANAL, but I do pay a few. Just going from what our legal council told us after reviewing the situation.
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