How often do we find ourselves talking about someone else? Gossip is casual conversation about other people, which can be positive, neutral, or negative. One study found that the average person spends nearly an hour a day gossiping.

Such conversations are harmful in the workplace. They are unproductive and a waste of time, as I just mentioned, and they lead to a lack of trust among colleagues. But in medical offices, it is even worse.

Employee gossip is one of the most common causes of HIPAA violations. The reason gossip is so common is because it happens so naturally. It's easy to fill conversations with other people's stories, and it's hard to catch ourselves doing it or recognize what's considered oversharing.

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While gossip should always be off-limits, employees should especially avoid it in common areas. There are so many areas in medical facilities where someone else could be just around the corner. Even if you have the authority to talk about a patient with another colleague or family, you should still do so in a private space.

If someone overhears you talking about another patient, they will lose trust in your practice because you are not careful with sensitive details.

Sharing stories outside of work is also not acceptable. You may think it's safe because no one from work can overhear and your family or friends won't even see the person. But even then, you shouldn't share those stories. You never know who someone else might tell or who they might know.

Social media may not seem like a form of gossip, but it is. Talking about patients online is just as bad, if not worse, than talking about them in person. You have much less control over where the information goes once it's online.

Anyone can take screenshots, save things, or send them to someone else who wouldn't normally see your posts. Even if you realize you made a mistake and delete your post, you have no way of knowing who you've already reached. As the saying goes, "Once something's on the Internet, it's there forever." And it has the potential to spread much further.

Sometimes patients or staff members will ask specifically about another patient. This is a difficult situation. We might feel rude if we point out that it is none of their business. It is difficult to know straight away whether a colleague has the authority or is just curious. It would be embarrassing to give the impression that you do not trust them, since you have to see each other all the time at work.

And patients who ask about others may be genuinely concerned or looking for hope for their own experience. Whether with patients or other staff, most staff feel uncomfortable having these conversations. But the problem is that they don't know how to respond.

You can imagine feeling nervous or overwhelmed if you immediately say you can't talk to them about it. To avoid these awkward and dangerous situations, practices must cover this section in their annual HIPAA training.

Finally, people will try to get you to gossip about a patient because they claim they are family. OK, let's assume they are actually related. That doesn't automatically entitle them to know the patient's health information.

Sometimes it's done with the best of intentions, but other times it's just curiosity. Fortunately, the HIPAA Privacy Rule sets out what can be shared and with whom. It gives all healthcare workers guidance on how to withhold or share details from a family member or friend.

Even if your conversations about someone else are not negative or malicious, they can still be harmful. Gossip damages the trust between people and leads to unpleasant situations.

Most people are OK with talking about others, but they have a hard time saying it out loud. Worse, it can have legal consequences. You may have missed this lesson in your practice's HIPAA training, but it's never OK to talk about patients without a reason or to someone who isn't authorized to do so.

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