So I took the trublkid to Urgent Care today, for an apparent allergic reaction.
At the front desk, you sign in on a clipboard with the patient’s name and what you (or they) are being seen for. The clipboard with everyone’s information sits right there on the counter for any and all to see. I find this practice extremely distasteful, but I’m also wondering if it’s a violation of HIPPA law. I asked about it, and the receptionist said they had to do it like that, in case you were having chest pains or something emergent like that. :rolleyes:
I’m fairly knowledgeable about HIPPA law, but I don’t know the answer to this question.
My Urgent Care doctor doesn’t do that - they only ask you to write you name and the time. I would simply leave the “reason for visit” blank and tell the receptionist that it isn’t any of the business of the person behind me why I’m here!
I called a hospital, who directed me to the hhs.gov website wherein they have info on HIPAA. I called the HIPAA hotline, and the lady I spoke with told me to read the information, and if I wanted to file a complaint, I could do so online. She said that she couldn’t tell me if it was or wasn’t a violation- something to do with legal restrictions or something.
On the website, it clearly says that providers are not to ask you to list the reason for being seen on the sign-in sheet. So now I have to decide if I want to file a complaint or not.
I wonder if somehow Urgent Cares are exempt from this rule. I worked at an Urgent Care for a couple of years up until four years ago, before HIPAA took effect, but we didn’t use a sign-in sheet on the counter.
If not filing a complaint, you should at least mention it to them. My physical therapist had a sign-in sheet where the name, address & reason for visit could be (and were) immediately peeled off–so all that was visible to the next person signing in was the time and patient name.
Of course, it’s not me, but I think you should. In your case, an allergic reaction doesn’t seem like anything you’d care if the next person read – heck, you told a whole bunch of random strangers here, even though we don’t know your real name. But it would encourage the place to be more careful. I can easily think of situations where I’d not care to display my particular ailment to the world.
Did you at least glance at the people before you in the list to see if you could get anything interesting about someone you knew? Hey, lookie here! Mrs. McGillicutty is here because she’s got vaginal itching! Wonder where she picked that up? And Joe Samoleon has urinary incontinence. Well, well.
That did make me laugh out loud, but no, I didn’t look. I’m a real “rules” person, and the thought of looking gives me anxiety.
Okay, I’m going to file a complaint. I know that having some strangers know that my son had a rash is not a big deal, but I’m also a real “principal” person, and it just makes me uncomfortable that they’re doing that to people that don’t know any better. Either I’m right and changes will be made, or some government drone will think I’m an ass. I can deal with that.
I’m a Brit, and there may be a difference here between UK English and American English, but in UK English the word you want here is ‘principle’ (rule / law) rather than ‘principal’ (first / foremost). I’m not even saying this to be picky. It’s just that if you really are a ‘principle’ sort of person then you’d want to get this right. On principle. Also, if you do file a complaint, you’d want to use the correct word when you write about this to the relevant authorities.
Apologies if this is one of those cases where US English differs.
ianzin, it’s not. trublmakr, I’d let the clinic know that they need to brush up on their HIPAA knowledge, and go from how they reacted when you inform them that their procedure violates HIPAA. If they don’t seem to care, then I’d file the complaint. If they are abashed, and you can see they will implement new procedure right away, I’d let it be. That’s just me.
One other thing. If you decide to speak to someone in the doc-in-a-box first, don’t make it the receptionist, he/she has no authority or interest. Don’t tell the doctor he doesn’t care or have the authority either. You can tell the nurse, but chances are he/she is in the same “don’t care, don’t have to” category.
Speak with the clinic manager. Often a non-medical, bean counter. That person will have the authority, but, may only care after being told that you plan to report the violation.
At my nearest hospital, ER patients are interviewed for initial info in separate cubicals, then taken to curtained-off stalls. Nobody sees anybody else’s name or condition. At the Outpatient area, each patient is checked in and given a vibrating pager, so nobody’s name is called. You might recognize somebody in the waiting corral, but you won’t know whether it’s for a mammogram or an HIV test.
At my doctor’s office, patients are signed in individually (no clipboard) and when they’re called, it’s by first name.
)