The setting is the cafeteria in a hospital. Two employees, a billing clerk and a clinical laboratory professional (working in a different department) are having lunch together. The billing clerk mentions that she saw a bill go through the system for one of her coworkers for a biopsy. She asks the laboratory professional to please look up the biopsy report and let her know the result because she is concerned about the welfare of her coworker. The laboratory professional does have the necessary security clearance to see the results. She should:
Correct Answer: Refuse to look up the results for the clerk and remind the clerk that it is a violation of compliance policies to do so, or to ask another to do so.
Discussion: The laboratory professional has a responsibility to report violations of compliance policies and the friend has put her in a difficult position. For that reason, it is not enough to just refuse the clerk's request. If the laboratory professional does not take the responsibility to inform the employee of the policy then there is a possibility that the employee would ask some other employee to do it for her.