Confused & Frustrated - What Would You Do?

[Host Jazzbeau]

DW was recently tested at CVS.  You could get a printout if you waited, but they wouldn't email it – they did post it to her chart in MyChart at the CVS website and she was able to print it out from there.

[ljandgb]

I'm a physician.  Getting your email HIPPA certified is a huge PITA.  It's easier, relatively, to make patients go thru a portal system.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, ljandgb said:

I'm a physician.  Getting your email HIPPA certified is a huge PITA.  It's easier, relatively, to make patients go thru a portal system.

I am guessing we can get away with it at work because we are all using the same email system and it is HIPPA certified.

 

Walgreens used a lab to email me (not Walgreens directly). I am assuming the lab's email was HIPPA certified.

 

I know our state was using a 3rd party company for tests and they were all emailed results also. Bizarre.

[Lois R]

On 10/5/2021 at 10:32 AM, celvalliere said:

Lois,

Where did you get your Antigen test? We are down the road in StA and the site where we had scheduled for next Tuesday morning is closing this Thursday afternoon. I only found this out when I called to confirm the appointments yesterday. Seems that the city wants their parking lot back 😉 

Good morning, did you get your test? And how did it go?....Did you use the facility I had recommended?

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, ljandgb said:

I'm a physician.  Getting your email HIPPA certified is a huge PITA.  It's easier, relatively, to make patients go thru a portal system.

Hi Doc🙂 I had my test at an Urgent Care Facility and they could not email me my results for those same HIPPA reasons.  They normally do it via text but they will also give you the hard copy. I waited about 30 minutes and got the copy while I was there. But they did say because of HIPPA regulations they could not email the results.

[acwmom]

5 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi Doc🙂 I had my test at an Urgent Care Facility and they could not email me my results for those same HIPPA reasons.  They normally do it via text but they will also give you the hard copy. I waited about 30 minutes and got the copy while I was there. But they did say because of HIPPA regulations they could not email the results.

This is not entirely true. If you give permission to have something emailed, it is not a HIPAA violation.

[Lois R]

25 minutes ago, acwmom said:

This is not entirely true. If you give permission to have something emailed, it is not a HIPAA violation.

Hi Robin, this facility would not email me.

I would gladly have given them permission.

[acwmom]

3 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi Robin, this facility would not email me.

I would gladly have given them permission.

Yeah, that's policy and laziness, quite honestly, hiding behind HIPAA fear. (or trying to blame HIPAA)

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, acwmom said:

Yeah, that's policy and laziness, quite honestly, hiding behind HIPAA fear. (or trying to blame HIPAA)

I wonder if it's a paper trail problem.  You can give permission, but they have to have a chain that shows that and their software isn't set up to preserve it?  HIPAA is a PITA.  Doesn't do what it promised but makes life harder than before.

[acwmom]

18 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I wonder if it's a paper trail problem.  You can give permission, but they have to have a chain that shows that and their software isn't set up to preserve it?  HIPAA is a PITA.  Doesn't do what it promised but makes life harder than before.

Many healthcare systems have documents that patients can sign. It’s as simple as scanning the document into the chart and documenting that consent has been given. 

[ljandgb]

I'm no computer expert, but it has more to do with being hackable/able to be intercepted than anything else.  Having patients sign into your portal is more secure than having back and forth communication outside of your system.  If you've got a weakness at your point of entry, someone can get into YOUR system.

 

How do I know all this?  We were ransom-wared 2 years ago.  It was god-awful.  It was not via email access but I learned more than I ever wanted to know about computer security.

[Coral]

I have been tested 6x since July and all the results have been sent via email.

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I have been tested 6x since July and all the results have been sent via email.

Where did you go for the tests?

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Where did you go for the tests?

Walgreens was one, my employer the others. My employer has used 2 different companies for testing purposes.

 

Sometimes I wonder if people just throw out HIPPA as an excuse.

 

Our state had hired a company to do tests until this summer. They emailed results. The state no longer has the contract but the company still exists and is testing and they also email results. This is on their website https://nomihealth.com/nebraska/: 

 

• 01 Select a Testing Site & Register

Select the closest COVID-19 testing site and complete the online registration form. 

•02 Test

Visit the selected testing site, provide your pre-registration QR Code, get swabbed, and go on your way. 

•03 Get Results

Within 48 hours, the test results will be sent via email or text to the destination provided during registration.

[CPT Trips]

16 minutes ago, Coral said:

Walgreens was one, my employer the others. My employer has used 2 different companies for testing purposes.

 

Sometimes I wonder if people just throw out HIPPA as an excuse.

 

SNIP

Wonder no more. HIPAA is used by many organizations and people as a basis for not doing what they don’t want to do. Our HOA has had people claim that HIPAA prevents us from requiring proof of vaccination in order to use certain amenities. 

[Coral]

9 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

Wonder no more. HIPAA is used by many organizations and people as a basis for not doing what they don’t want to do. Our HOA has had people claim that HIPAA prevents us from requiring proof of vaccination in order to use certain amenities. 

I thought my HOA was strict. 

 

They used ADA at work as a reason for telling us that we are not allowed to ask others if they are vaccinated or not. That makes a little bit more sense as some disabilities prevent people from getting vaccines...

[Canal archive]

Aren’t they withholding your personal information by storing it on their systems and not supplying a secure system for onward transmission. A form maybe of intellectual copyright.

[sharkster77]

A US politician was asked by a reporter if she had been vaccinated.  The pol replied 'you can't ask that, it violates HIPPA'.  Umm, no it does not.  Reporter can ask, and individual can answer w/o HIPPA being involved.  BUT---if a reporter asks your doctor that question, and if he/she answers, THEN there is a problem.

 

So YES,  HIPPA is used as a smokescreen at times.