MINNESOTA — Nursing home providers, take note: A Minnesota senior living facility was not in violation of a state health records law after a nurse’s aide posted a photo of a resident on social media, an appeals court ruled.
The case against the Madonna Summit of Byron in Byron, MN, was dismissed in late January. It stemmed from a photo posted on social media that claimed a resident pulled the fire alarm, leading the facility to call 911. Nothing else in the photo identified the resident.
Under the Minnesota Health Records Act, a health record is defined as any information, in any form, that relates to the past, present or future physical or mental health or condition of a patient.
A person can be held liable for the unauthorized release of a health record.
The court found that the photograph and accompanying caption did not fall under the definition of a “health record.”
Lawyers for the resident argued that the photo and caption was a health record because it related to the resident’s “present mental health condition.” They added a viewer could infer their mental health status from the content of the photo with the combined caption.
