When my husband and I were in a motorcycle accident in Big Southwestern City last January, EMTs gathered me up off the pavement and rushed me away in an ambulance. My husband had to remain at the scene answering questions and filling out endless paperwork, after which the cops sped off to answer another call. Only then did my husband realize that he didn't know where I was. As a visitor, he was not familiar with city or its hospitals and had no clue where the ambulance had taken me. Already shaken up from the accident and beginning to panic, he asked one of the people cleaning up the scene, who said, "I don’t know. Big City Medical Center, maybe." He found the number and called BCMC, at which point he encountered the HIPAA stone wall.

He was connected with ER and told that no patient with my name was in ER and that no one from a motorcycle accident had been brought in that evening. Then he called the ambulance company, which, due to HIPAA requirements, could not reveal patient information but – after he pleaded – recalled that they had dispatched an ambulance that evening to take someone to BCMC. He decided to risk a $50 cab ride to see if I was at BCMC. When he got to ER about three hours after the accident, they said, "Sure, she’s right down there at the end of the hall." Didn’t even ask who he was. Although I am grateful for the superior emergency medical care I received, for husband it was frustrating ordeal and remains an unpleasant memory.

Gartner encourages clients to maintain consistent compliance and enforcement across their entire organization. Inconsistent enforcement may result in a bad experience for your customers or partners and could result in legal liability.