On July 28th 2025, I received a phone call from a woman named Hannah, who introduced herself as the Compliance Officer regarding a HIPAA complaint I had submitted after my daughter Penelope’s ER visit to UT Health Athens on July 21, 2025.

Hannah reviewed the nature of my complaint — a violation of HIPAA and patient privacy rights due to staff openly discussing my daughter’s medical reason for being there in a public hallway. However, what was not made immediately clear during the phone call was that Hannah was employed internally by UT Health Athens, not affiliated with any independent oversight body or government agency.

At no point during the call did Hannah clarify this conflict of interest up front. She instead presented her conclusions — that no HIPAA violation had occurred — in a way that suggested it was a formal, impartial ruling. This misled me to believe she was a neutral, third-party compliance authority, when in reality, she was working on behalf of the very institution I had filed the complaint against.

This raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability within UT Health Athens. It is not appropriate for the hospital’s own compliance officer to unilaterally determine the outcome of a patient rights complaint — especially without a neutral or external review process. This creates a clear conflict of interest and undermines the integrity of the investigative process.

I didn't find this out until attempting to do the right thing and reach out to Rosalie from patient advocacy today, July 29th also employed by UT to give her a list of red flags and inconsistencies I myself found during my comb of her medical records released to me on the 25th of July. 

When I called I was told she doesn't have anything to do with that (after Rosalie told me to call her with any further findings or concerns in general) and was redirected to Hannah, the same woman who told me she was a compliance officer through the state. Even though Hannah yesterday told me all she dealt with was HIPPA complaints and rushed me off the phone when I tried to voice further concerns. 

-Marion Scott