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The "Chatty" employee should be fired. This is a violation of every hospitals privacy policy.

Maybe the SEC should broaden the (endo)scope of their investigation to this person as well since they seem so determined to regain their reputation via Apple-gate.

Jan 26, 09 - 07:08 pm Comment from: ndelc

Whatever the truth is, whatever is going on with Steve, just get better and come back healthy and happy in July.

Interesting that they repeat the completely made up guess (from Bloomberg) that he "may" have liver cancer. Just when it was finally dead.

Now we will have articles all over the blogosphere about Jobs' "surgery for liver cancer."

actually... giving patient names is not a violation of hospital policy or law...

I worked at a major hospital in the marketing PR department for over 10 years. Patient names are public record.

Hospitals may give any patient name and status (i.e. criitical, intensive care, etc) unless the patient makes a specific request otherwise

I'm pretty sure Steve jobs requested otherwise..

"At a party in Silicon Valley last night, a Stanford staffer who had just come from the hospital told friends, including our source, about the 'extra special care' being afforded their famous patient," Thomas reports.

Apparently the care wasn't special enough for this "staffer" to keep their mouth shut.

The very least Stanford should do is fire this moron; this IS a blatant violation of procedure and privacy. Do they (this idiot) blab about everyone who comes through the door??

It appears from the article that Jobs *did* make a specific request to be anonymous and was not recorded as being there under his own name. So it's a total violation of policy, but like as not nothing will ever happen to the person even if they figure out who it is.

so I'm to assume that Steve Jobs told the hospital that it's okay to let people know he's there, and what his status was? Yeah right.

It IS a violation of policy for a unnamed staffer to disclose any patient information-including simply that they are a patient. Hospital admissions can, if not explicitly forbidden, say that someone is a patient but even this may be subject to legal claims.

Cocktail party gossip IS grounds for firing just as a Doctor or Nursing looking up a patient records when they are NOT involved in patient care.

This is true from both a legal policy and medical ethics status. A number of employees at hospital are fired every year for this type of behavior. In fact a large percentage of hospitals require employees to sign "privacy policy" documents.

I wonder if this policy varies by hospital and state.

Hospitals in this area (upper Midwest, literally in the shadows of Mayo) have strict non-disclosure policies of patient names and conditions.

There have been many examples of patients admitted in critical condition (and obviously thus unable to make any privacy requests), and the hospitals have brushed off nosy press questions with "Our policy is we don't comment".

So YMMV I guess.

Patient Disclosure policies are pretty much the same from state to state with only "minor" variations. Unapproved patient record access, disclosures to the press, or cocktail gossip can lead to reprimand or termination as well as legal penalties.

This is one reason why all the celebrity obsessed Physicians always provide the disclaimer that they have not seen the patient's records nor are they involved in the treatment and they are only speculating on what (typically the worse) case may be.

UCLA Hospitals recently fired a number of nurses and physicians for accessing patient records (ok, celebrity) whom they were not treating and were just nosy....

I've worked in a number of hospitals in different states and have always been required to sign non-disclosure/privacy policies documents.

Anyone who condemns or criticizes the "chatty" hospital employee for revealing Jobs' admission to hospital, ought to denounce MDN's hypocritical publication of the same.

Jan 26, 09 - 07:44 pm Comment from: Mac Daddy

I was in a bad accident once, and the hospital asked my permission before giving any information to the news agencies that were calling them. The hospital press department (after waiting until I was treated and comfortably rigged up in the ICU) asked me specifically if they were permitted to give my name (no), and my general condition, e.g. Stable, Guarded, Critical, etc. (yes). And I'm not even famous. That was 15 years ago, too, before the scandals about celebrity patients broke. Maybe Steve should switch to an Orange County hospital

MDN is simply responding to crap that is "floating" around the internet. Pointing out the problem is not the same as creating the problem.

IF MDN were initiating these "rumors" then they would be in line for bashing. The MDN take "That sound you hear is Edward R. Murrow spinning in his grave at approximately 10,000 RPM." is a correct response to the report.

Jan 26, 09 - 07:54 pm Comment from: It's About Time

I think his days at Apple are over. Sure hope not, but if this report is factual, this is not a good sign.

Lets all request Mr. Steve Job's wishes, please, and refrain from making him our focus.

I understand that we will all be "impacted" (whatever) if Jobs were not to return, but pretending like we know him and his thoughts seems unrealistic.

He stepped down (partially) in order to be left alone. Give him that respect and let it go!

"MacDailyNews Take: That sound you hear is Edward R. Murrow spinning in his grave at approximately 10,000 RPM."


Dude, the guy's still spinning from the way the media acted the last election.

Oh, wait, Murrow was a flack for Truman's commies against McCarthy.

Never mind.

If the staffer never actually mentioned his name, then nothing can happen to him. If the public wants to assume who it is, so be it

It's a HIPPA violation. The reporter can, and should be compelled to "name names."

The Stanford Staffer can not only be fired, he is legally at risk here.

i hope he bites it

I didn't think there were still right-wing shit-heads like you left in the world. What you said could have come right out of the mouth of Archie Bunker circa 1975, which would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

@Handsome Smitty

PLEASE tell me you were being sarcastic, because if your comment about Murrow was serious, you are a pathetic, deranged individual who needs to be institutionalized.

It has been 50 years since Murrow exposed McCarthy as an unAmerican bully and ideologue. History has rendered a clear verdict, and Murrow is the unqualified winner.

You, sir, are just a loser.

"Pointing out the problem is not the same as creating the problem."

No, its not the same as "creating" the "problem" - only repeating it, promulgating it, promoting it, reinforcing it, and continuing it.

MDN is nothing else than an accomplice of the same person that they condemn. Unfortunately, for MDN, lacking the requisite credentials as authentic journalists they cannot smugly wrap themselves in the sanctifying blanket of the First Amendment.

Right on Handsome Smitty! These liberal lunatics never quit. They won't be happy until we're all commies and surrendered to the terrorists. They are pathetic and Obama and team are proving it daily.

Jan 26, 09 - 10:07 pm Comment from: ken1w

Fire that hospital employee, if there really is such an employee. More likely, it's just a decoy to allow Bloomberg "News" to act even more like a tabloid. What's next, are aliens going to abduct Steve Jobs and take him back to his home-world for the cure?

Jan 26, 09 - 10:08 pm Comment from: Spudly

He should have gone up the road to UCSF. Stanfurd will complicate things by just drawing blood in much the same way they botched his privacy.

Jan 26, 09 - 10:10 pm Comment from: MacRaven

I just want Steve to be well again and all this to be over with. Like a bad dream.

*sigh* : (

I don't know why there are so few writers like this one:
http://www.applematters.com/article/leave-steve-jobs-alone/

Jan 26, 09 - 10:39 pm Comment from: Ampar

I wish Steve all the best.

i love u jobs, u are the most important person in the world

The obvious hospital is Stanford. It's nearby. It's world-class. What more can you ask for? Easy enough guess.

Do people even remember Steve spoke at Stanford U's Commencement the year after his first surgery? It's an obvious link.

Of course, I hope Steve is not having surgery at Stanford.

Get Well Steve!

@ Handsome Smitty

But obviously there are plenty of left wing shitheads like you left in the world.

What you said could have come right out of the mouth of Joseph Stalin circa 1932 (thought police anyone?), which would be funny if it weren't so frightening.

@Handsome Smitty/Ted: Please remember to treat liberals with kid-gloves. The get rattled pretty easily if someone says or implies anything they disagree with. Liberal "tolerance" I think is more of a personal goal for them instead of something they are able to put into practice.

Jan 26, 09 - 11:49 pm Comment from: Connor MacBook

Admit it, as much as we tsk-tsk breaches of confidentiality like this, we're all curious to know how Steve's going, if only because we care about him and Apple. It's like rubbernecking at a crash site.

Message to Tweetie Bird:

WWSD? STFU.
Try it. You would if it was you.


GET WELL STEVE !!!!

Jan 27, 09 - 12:12 am Comment from: cptnkirk

You all seem to be assuming that this stupid rumour is true.

Then you argue about the propriety of naming Jobs.

He's probably not in the hospital at all. So no confidentialities have been violated at all.

Jeesh!

Even of this were true, that doesn't make it bad news. Obviously, Jobs' condition merits serious intervention; he stated that it is more complex than he previously thought. An operation would be a sign that Jobs is getting the medical care he needs. Hopefully, he will recover and be back in charge at Apple by July.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Steve!

Jan 27, 09 - 12:45 am Comment from: jjjj

rebuttal: Jobs in Office today...

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/26/report-steve-jobs-is-in-the-office-today/

Jan 27, 09 - 01:07 am Comment from: TowerTone

Apparently Handsome Smitty didn't get the memo from Hollywood....

Sorry, but wasn't McCarthy ultimately proven to be a lying alcoholic who fabricated his war record?

And - whilst Murrow had some flaws - didn't he free Eisenhower from constantly having to cope with McCarthy's smear tactics that simply created the impression of wrong-doing without any of that pesky evidence stuff?

And, when the fat, alcohol-addicted demagogue was finally a non-factor in his administration, didn't Eisenhower make some comment about "McCarthywasm"?

What is it about a particular kind of Republican that's attracted to obese bullies with addictive personalities like McCarthy and Limbaugh and favours them over genuine Americans like Eisenhower (possibly the last genuine Republican president).

Answers without abuse please.

BTW, Ed Murrow was cremated so – unlike my grandmother when she sees me using a microwave – there is unlikely to be any spinning, although he may form into drifts from time to time.

Jan 27, 09 - 02:49 am Comment from: Mac Daddy

Valleywag, huh? Assholes.

MDN should do as SJ says and leave him alone. You keep repeating reports and speculation on his health when he has specifically asked to be left alone.

MDN is the worst kind of news vulture...

I would not even know about this if it weren't for MDN repeating gossip.

@Dave Woodruf

Its Called HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act) of 1996 and it makes it that you cannot share information about a patient without specific permissions from the patient.

MW = Specific

Great more rantings from a left wing lunatic. Go crawl back under your rock and get back on your meds.

MDN knows less than nothing about Steve Jobs medical conditions and treatments, yet decries anyone else posting their opinions about Jobs and his pathologies. Pathetic.