The local chain I work for is about to go through a Medicare accreditation program over the next several weeks. Earlier this week we were given today the 'revised' HIPPA rules we will soon have to follow. They are some of the most assine rules I have ever read. The kicker? We're no longer allowed to have notes on our computer stations. No NPIs, no diagnosis codes, no phone numbers, no program cheat sheets, nada.
The reasoning? So if someone breaks in they can't steal all of that 'important' information. We all know that the first thing someone does when they break into a pharmacy is to go and copy down an NPI number or the fax number to our bookkeeping. I mean this is a critical area that requires the uptmost protection! Plus now they'll know how to restart our laser printer! It's an even bigger annoyance to me because I had just made neat little lists of all NPIs, ICD-9 codes, computer short cuts and etc for all the stations in the business. Hell we can't even have the id's that tell us what screens are what on our monitors.
And the solution to this? Keeping it in a little notebook next to the terminal. Instead of writing down that diagnosis code for GERD, they can't just take the whole damned book with them.
I've always thought HIPPA does have it's good points. In hindsight, it probably wasn't a good idea to go "Mr. Johnson, your pain medication is ready" over the intercom. And I can understand the need to shred pertinent patient information rather than just dumping it in the trash like we used to. This takes it to a whole new level though.
Our job just got a little big harder for really no logical reason. And people wonder why pharmacy employees are so bitter at times...
1 comment:
Omigod, I hear that. I get so mad having to scramble around looking for information that should be at my fingertips because some middle manager came in and ripped down every list, shortcut and helpful thing we had posted (where no customer could ever see it!)
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