Office gossip about confidential matters can create a uncomfortable work enviornment (Source: Thinkstock)

Tracy Mack thought his secret was safe with his former boss. In 2006, Mack was working as an alcohol and substance abuse counselor at a New York health services organization and told his supervisor that he was HIV-positive in case complications forced him to miss workdays. None of his coworkers knew his status until his boss let the information slip to a colleague after Mack was hospitalized with pneumonia.

“When he told another colleague he was going to see me in the hospital, the coworker said, ‘Oh, what’s wrong with him?’ He went on to say it’s not due to my HIV,” recalls Mack, 47, who has been HIV-positive since October 1990. “The director, who was a friend of mine, shared my status to another friend who was my colleague but with whom I never shared my status.”

From that moment on, Mack says he never experienced overt discrimination at his workplace, but worried about how he might be perceived there. “I was always concerned about who he may have accidentally or deliberately told so I would walk around not knowing who knew,” explains Mack, who received an apology from his manager. “Should I tell everybody? That was really traumatic.”

Though Mack never filed a complaint with his human resources department, many others in similar situations file grievances. In fiscal year 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported 25,165 disability discrimination charges, an increase of nearly 4,000 from the previous year.

HR has a responsibility to keep certain information confidential (Source: Thinkstock)

Employees who have recurring health issues and/or serious illnesses, such as cancer and HIV/AIDS, should be aware of their rights, says Susie Tomlin, a 16-year HR veteran based in Orlando, Fla. There are many laws in place to protect such employees against discrimination, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The bottom line, though, is clear. “Medical issues do not have to be communicated to employers,” Tomlin says. An exception is in regards to a hospital job. “You can’t have a communicable disease,” she adds. “So in those settings you’re tested.”

Wendy Payton, a HR professional since 1991 who now lives in Virginia, advises all employees to closely read and understand their company’s policy on medical leave and short- and long-term disability options. And if there’s a situation where you’ve been harassed by a supervisor or coworker, contact an HR officer or, where available, call your organization’s hotline to file an anonymous complaint. For workers who anticipate needing to take days off due to doctor’s appointments or other health-related absences, Payton suggests that they contact their HR office directly rather than an immediate supervisor. “We have to tell them what their rights are and what’s available before we can write them up or put them on corrective action or fire them,” she explains.

“The workplace has more and more regulations in place, which is good for the employee,” says Tomlin, who adds there’s less chance to lose a job due to a health issue now than in years past.

Still, Mack learned a valuable lesson. He offers simple advice to anyone who is HIV-positive in the workplace. “Don’t say anything [about your status] because that would eliminate or lessen anything [negative] that may occur,” he says. “Some folks still believe that if you share the toilet and if you shake someone’s hand or if someone cries on you, [you can transmit HIV]. It’s a horrible place to be. I felt the need to do…damage control almost.”

Be sure to read these related articles…

• On the Job: Dealing with Religious Discrimination in the Office
• Office Politics: Racial Jokes in the Workplace
• Making Your Words and Actions Count After Workplace Gaffes

The World Privacy Forum, a non-profit public interest research group focused on consumer education in the area of privacy, published A Patient’s Guide to HIPAA. The online guide, which is divided into 65 questions and answers, explains HIPAA in terms that are easy to understand.  The guide has four sections, which include an introduction to medical privacy and the seven basic patient rights in HIPAA.

The process of writing the guide was long. “It took over two years,” says Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum and one of the authors of the guide. “John Fanning, a former privacy advocate for the Department of Health and Human Services, and Robert Gellman, a privacy expert, wrote the first draft. Dr. Lewis Lorton, also a privacy expert, and I did a lot of editing. Then we did a lot of testing with consumers,” Dixon says. They worked at the guidelines until consumers could read and “have a prayer of understanding it,” Dixon says. “People have a lot of questions about forms they need, how they can get their records, and when their records are covered under HIPAA. The feedback has been incredibly positive.”

Under HIPAA you can get an account of disclosure at no charge in a twelve month year. There’s a nominal fee if you need the records more than once in a calendar year.  You should be able to get them within 30 days, or 60 days at the most.

If you mistakenly authorize a disclosure you have to put that fact in writing to all parties, but the best way is to simply tell your healthcare provider that you made a mistake, and you’d like to keep your records private.

But HIPAA is full of loopholes. There are many entities that can access your healthcare records. “HIPAA is not perfect at all,” Dixon says. “HIPAA allows so many uses and disclosures that you wouldn’t even believe it. But you still have to know about them.”

Dr. Cheryl Smith, medical director at Mount Morris Medical Center in New York, agrees that HIPAA is “somewhat helpful,” despite the shortcomings. “There are loopholes, but previously we didn’t have even this, so I think it is a good thing,” says Smith.  “There are things we need to tighten up. However, given the level of freedom that existed before, I think having the guidelines is really important.”

You can access A Patient’s Guide to HIPAA by visiting the World Privacy Forum Website and clicking on the section labeled “Patient’s Guide to HIPAA.”