Several urgent care workers in Santa Barbara, California, were terminated from employment recently after making controversial social media posts. Employees reportedly mocked a female patient and shared images of bodily fluids on an exam room table after the woman’s pelvic exam, according to local news reports. The social media account has since been locked and all posts were deleted. Even so, the center received a flurry of negative online reviews as a result.
Policy points: “As an urgent care operator, I see incidents like this as a breach of patient dignity and confidentiality that erodes community trust—even when no HIPAA-protected information is disclosed,” says Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc, President of Urgent Care Consultants and Senior Editor of JUCM. “It’s also a…..