Does the HIPAA law really "helpa?!"

Anonymous · January 2008

Anonymous · January 2008

Ok, so two months ago I got a prescription from a national pharmacy-actually, kind of the pharmacy that everyone considers to be "the one." They gave me a bottle of meds with someone else's name, address, phone number, and Doctor info on it.

I called and got an answer something like, "Well, you can keep it if you want. We probably gave you a stock bottle. Sorry....."

I of course reported it to corporate, and got a phone call within minutes. "Can you please bring that bottle back as soon as possible? We need to submit a report!"

Hmmmm.......

On Tuesday I received some records from my previous town's hospital. In the midst of these records, I find 5 pages of someone else's breast cancer woes. Well, this woman was actually benign, but I SHOULDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I immediately called, and got put to voice mail. I left a very urgent message, citing the HIPAA laws, and stating that I was concerned that if I got this woman's info, WHO THE HECK IS GETTING MINE?!?!?

No call has been returned. I called back today, and the office was already closed (early).

Hmmm........

What is the point of HIPAA if it isn't followed all that closely?!

TWICE I have had a situation within two months, and nobody seems to act on it with much concern.

Who do I go to next?! Start a class-action lawsuit?!?!

Hrmph.......

Love and prayers, Deb

carolsd · January 2008

It's unfortunate. We got a fax in our office (human resources at a bank) about a woman getting a mammogram. It was faxed to us in error, obviously. I called the doctor's office and told them they had faxed it to me erroneously. They thanked me for the call and politely asked that I fax it back to them so they could correct the error.

The thing is, human beings make mistakes. There are laws in place to protect privacy, but as long as humans are administering these things, there are going to be errors. Of course we hope they are few and far between.

Anonymous · January 2008

I must say that I'm appalled! Where I work (clinical trials), we're obsessive over HIPAA and people can get fired in a heartbeat over any infraction. Why did I think that all institutions were like that?

If you have the time and the energy, Deb, I'd advise you to find out the name of the proper authority and write or email them, detailing the incidents. Copy any overseeing government dept., if you can determine who that would be (local HHS?). At least you'd have made the attempt to help insure your and others right to private health information.

~Marin

anneshirley · January 2008

I agree with Carol. People make mistakes and usually not intentionally. Why get someone in trouble, maybe cause irreparable harm when the mistake had no serious consequences? Obviously, if someone were given the wrong pathology or given the wrong meds, it should be addressed immediately, since lives are at risk. So long as you reported both incidences to the folks responsible, they can remedy the problem. I don't think either of these incidents are a result of violations of the spirit of the HIPPA law, which is intended to prevent medical professionals and others who work in the health care field from releasing information about a patient to those who are not concerned in the patient's care or well being. These were human errors, which actually had nothing to do with the HIPPA law.

LoriFL · January 2008

I'm with Marin.....I am sicken to know that my info might get in the wrong hands. I have not old EVERYONE in my town about my situation nor do I want to be the topic of conversation. This scares me.

Anonymous · January 2008

Well, a few things to add....

First off, I failed to mention that the pharmacy DID give the wrong meds. They gave me DOUBLE the dosage than what they were supposed to. I was supposed to be given a certain amount of liquid to be taken until completed, and they gave me two bottles instead of one.

Second, I, over anyone, make zillions of mistakes a day. I know that very well. My issue here is that there was NO response as far as, "OH NO, that should have NEVER happened!" It took my calling corporate for the pharmacy to respond properly, and I still haven't received a response about the records yet.

The records are labeled very clearly with the other girl's name, and there is a photocopy of a label with my name NEXT TO hers.

I just want a response. Not an "oh well, better luck next time."

Again, who may have gotten my meds before? If I was a psycho, I could have easily gotten further into the other person's info if I desired. I had everything at my fingertips.

wishiwere · January 2008

I understand not wanting to get someone in trouble, but double checking a fax # is no different than double checking an arm label on someone wrist when administering meds. AND I for one would hope that IF someone ever were in this situation and received MY INFO that they would contact me and let me also deal with the ramifications of my medical info being out there for whoever to do with how ever they chose!

You are right to cause waves and big ones too. What if these meds went to someone who couldn't read, or didn't b/c they were too ill to care from a chemo experience and took something that made them very ill, or worse had a reaction. Like a single mom dealing with it all on her own at home and no one could respond to help. This is all just a nasty disregard in my opinion. It's neglect, and just plain lack of give-a-sheet in ones job.

Just my humble opinion, but I'm sticking to it.

anneshirley · January 2008

Deb,

I agee that you should have reported both mistakes and gotten a response; where I may disagree is in whether either of these mistakes are violations of the HIPAA law. With or without the HIPAA laws, mistakes do happen as Carol pointed out. I believe, but I'm not a lawyer so not completely sure, that HIPAA was passed to protect patients from invasion of privacy, i.e. not permitting the health care system (intentionally) to share our records with any person or corporation that asks. I'm all in favor of that, although it's a bit of a pain at times getting one's records. Even before the HIPAA law, the types of mistake you refer to could be reported to the appropriate authorites.

And, of course, you should have reported both incidents, in particular the meds mistake, since it meant someone may not have gotten their meds or you might have taken your medicine for longer than prescribed. My own inclination would be to not go further in either incident once you've done your part. But that's me, and you're you, and hopefully you'll do what you think best.

Just the other day, my pharmacy filled my thyroid medication with the generic (lots cheaper too), and I almost let it go. But my doctor insists I use Synthroid, not the generic. It took some doing for me to convince the pharmacy to fill it as written and not charge me for the first mistake--and, I admit, a threat to go to a higher authority. The same pharmacy, also a national one, has filled my BP meds in the wrong dosage. One lesson I've learned is be vigilant in checking my meds before taking them. I generally check to be sure it's the correct color.

Lori--I felt as you did in the beginning, not wanting everyone to know I had BC. Even though I had a lumpectomy, I was afraid people would be checking my breasts out, which made me very uncomfortable, or giving me mourning looks, as though I'd be dead soon! My younger sister does this all the time! But now I tell people beyond family and intimate friends, probably too often. I do so in the hope that it will take some of the fear out of a BC diagnosis, and also to make sure women are doing what they have to, to find it early. I haven't reached the point, and never will, of the women on the board who show their breasts freely, but I admire them. I think they're great!

florencedonna · January 2008

I am a physician.

The best part of HIPAA is making health care providers do easy, little things to protect confidentiality, ie putting charts with the names facing in, double checking releases of information before sending out records, making more of an effort to lock up medical records, being much more discreet when talking in hospital elevators. With HIPAA, health care providers can face criminal prosecution for selling medical information. (I have a vague memory of some doctor giving a pharmaceutical company the names of patients with a certain condition so they could be targeted with advertising many years ago, prior to HIPAA)

Unfortunately, at the same time that there has been an increase in respect for medical privacy there has been an increase in technology and more pressure to save money in the medical field. It is easier for the wrong person to receive a fax with one error in the dialing than for the wrong person to recieve a letter because the zip code was off by one number. When pharmacies are under more pressure to fill prescriptions rapidly, more patients will receive the wrong prescription.

Donna

Anonymous · January 2008

Such interesting stuff. I appreciate your response, Donna. It's good to hear it from the point of view of a physician.

Don't think I am going to try to get a major pharmacy closed down for the mistake they made. I am going to continue to pursue the hospital for the pages of incorrect records I have been sent.

That is one of those weird things, too. As I was browsing through it, I was thinking, "this doesn't sound right....." and once I realized it was someone else's, I should have stopped. But, I didn't.

I read those pages with a sickening fascination. I know I should NOT have.

In response to contacting the other person whose info had been leaked, I was actually planning on it with the pharmacy, but when they resolved it, I didn't bother.

I looked on the girl's records for a phone number, and of course there isn't one. I could try to look her up in the phone book, actually......

I agree. I would want to be informed if I was the other person.

Thanks for the candid responses, ladies.

Love and prayers, Deb

badboob67 · January 2008

I think the pharmacy's mistake is just as dangerous as labeling, for instance, pennicillin as another antibiotic; it was giving the WRONG medicine and could have been dangerous. They have a responsibility to ensure the right patient gets the right medicine. You certainly should have gotten a *big* apology from the pharmacy and should not have had to contact coroporate.

Our pharmacy has given us the wrong person's meds before. I was halfway home before I realized it. Lost of times people go to the doctor and the medication that's being prescribed is something they are unfamiliar with; if they were to get the wrong meds, it could be disasterous. Most people EXPECT to get the right thing, so double-checking to make sure it's their name on the label is not necessarily everyone's habit.

My pharmacy recently began adding a short description of what's in the bottle right on the label. I recently had a bottle that said it contained "round, pink tablets with the number 57". I had WHITE tablets that were oval with completely different numbers. I had already taken them for two days before I realized the difference! When I took them back to the pharmacy, the pharmacist told me that I had the RIGHT pills with the WRONG description.

I have also received copies of my records with someone else's surgical report from their mastectomy mixed in with my records. She had a different pathology than me (yep, I read it too. In my defense, I didn't see that it wasn't mine until I saw the word "bilateral"). Because the doctors I see have my records fastened into my chart at the top of each page, it would be easy for a doctor not to see my name up there and recommend the wrong treatment.

More than HIPPAA violations, I am concerned about patient safety with these mistakes. I found that there were too many mistakes of this type at my *previous* onc and switched to a new one.

Does the HIPAA law really "helpa?!"

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