An employee who secretly planned for over a month to quit, took documents containing contact information of my patients. she is now contacting them by mail and phone to inform them of her new place of employment. these are medical patients.
by 
hearinghelper
ANSWERS: 6
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It sounds to me like it could be a HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (HIPAA) violation (violating the patients' right to privacy). Contact the Office for Civil Rights. Here's the website. http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/contact.html
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I've always taken my contacts information with me from every job I've had. But I only use those contacts that I know can answer a question or point me to someone that can. I am in the IT industry and we all do it. The medical field is different. Depending on her profession and how much knowledge she has and is sharing, she may be breaking the law via the HIPPA act. But if she is simply let people know that she moved to a new job, no law is broken.
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You need to report this immediately to www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/ before enough time goes by before you too are considered negligent. She is busted under HIPAA, the Senate rulings on patient's rights (to privacy) and other layers of law. This person will probably lose her license and, depending on the type of info she has could get major fines and time -- it's a felony and a Federal offense. It gets worse if any of these patients are over 65 years old. Anyone who has watched an investigation like this go down knows the fear of God. Licenses are ripped. The State Board, HHS and JCAHO have a field day. When they're done, in come the cops. But what is puzzling to me is, if you have patients and therefore are licensed, how do you not know any of this?
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Very "illegal", hearinghelper. You can legally sue.
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Sue her ass, don't wait
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Hold it - One Q - if these are your patients, are they hers as well? In other words, do you work in a medical setting/ multidisciplinary group practice / mental health office or some such, and does she have a professional obligation to them as patients also (eg a professional obligation to not abandon, as in the case of a mental health therapist)? If so, and she is a professional doctor or therapist to whom you made a referral, - even if the patients came to her by you via your marketing efforts,- there may not be a violation. You need to understand only the patients "own" anything when it concerns their medical care
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