Sometimes a routine support call uncovers a much bigger problem.

What would you do if you were helping a client with a simple VPN issue and suddenly realized they no longer worked for the company at all?

Would you give them what they wanted? Or would you shut the conversation down immediately?

In the following story, an IT provider finds himself in this situation and prevents a HIPAA violation.

Here’s what happened.

VPNs and HR

I run a small IT service company. Before I burnt out and drastically scaled back my customer base, I had a very large medical practice as a customer – multiple sites, multiple doctors, multiple lack of communications…

One Saturday, I get a call from one of the newer doctors who is having issues connecting via the VPN.

Generally, it’s because they have forgotten their password since they only use the VPN once in a Blue moon.

Then, the doctor told him all he needed to know.

As I’m logging in to do the reset, we’re making idle chatter.

I’m about to tell him his new password when he drops this little nugget of information, “Yeah, I’m down in [city on the other side of the state], and I work for the hospital here and need a patient’s images, but [customer] hasn’t sent them yet.”

Me – “Wait – you’re no longer with [customer]?”

He also made sure HR knew what happened.

Dr – “No, I work for [hospital] now.”

Me – “Well, that’s a different issue then. I can’t allow you access to their system. I’m locking your account and disabling all access. Have a nice day, doc.”

And then on Monday, I had a conversation with HR about why they needed to let me know when personnel depart the company, because they almost had a HIPAA violation on their hands.

Yikes! Good thing for small talk!

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit feel about what happened here.

This person’s workplace often finds out late.

Good question.

Here’s someone who knows how expensive that can be.

This is how an HR person feels.

What a great catch! The HR people should’ve treated him to a nice lunch after that.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.