If your practice is raided by law enforcement and your files are taken -- as described in
our recent Part B News story -- you probably don't want to say much about it, says Warren Cooper, senior communications specialist at Warren, N.J. public relations firm Evergreen Partners.
"Even when HIPAA laws don’t constrain responses, we counsel clients to err on the side of patient privacy and deflect questions that would compromise privacy," he says.
But if you decide you do want to formally communicate with certain groups, such as patients, employees, the press and stakeholders in the practice, Cooper advises you do so gently. "Our goal is to tamp down inflammatory rhetoric with speech that will, if necessary, support the client if the government (or others) take legal action," he says.
Consider Cooper's examples of responses, drawn from a practice that's had this experience, to four key groups related to the practice:
For patients of the practice (including those whose records have been removed):
- Today law enforcement agents retrieved patient records from our office as part of an investigation that is unrelated to the practice or our physicians. Of course, the privacy of your personal information is our chief concern and we are cooperating fully with authorities to make sure it is not compromised. Although we are under an obligation to authorities not to identify the records that have been taken, we intend to keep you informed as matters progress. If you have personal concerns, please feel free to reach out to [contact] in our office, who is handling this matter.
For employees of the practice:
- As you may know, law enforcement agents today removed some patient records from our office as part of an investigation that is unrelated to the practice or our physicians. The privacy of our patients’ personal information is our chief concern, or course, and we are cooperating fully with authorities to make sure that privacy is not compromised.
Because we are under an obligation to authorities not to identify the records that have been taken, we ask that you refer all questions from patients about this matter to [contact], who is handing the matter for the office. Similarly, XXXX is the proper person with whom to share any concerns of your own.
We are currently working out procedures to address any problem that may arise from not having immediate access to those records and will share them with you shortly.
Be assured that we will keep you informed as this situation evolves.
For press:
- It is our understanding that the matter under investigation is unrelated to the practice or our physicians. The privacy of our patients’ personal information is our chief concern and we are cooperating fully with authorities to make sure that privacy is not compromised.
For stakeholders:
- Because of the longstanding nature of our relationship, I wanted to reach out to you personally to let you know that law enforcement agents today retrieved some patient records from our office as part of an investigation that is unrelated to either the practice or our physicians. Of course, the privacy of our patients’ personal information is our chief concern and we are cooperating fully with authorities to make sure that privacy is not compromised. While we are under an obligation to authorities to not identify the records that were taken, we intend to keep you informed as this situation evolves. If you have personal concerns, please feel free to reach out to [contact] in our office.