Glasses Rx and Hipaa

Hi All,

I have a situation that I am seeking advise.... I had a very disruptive patient ask for her husband's glasses Rx after being completely rude and trying to pick any fight possible with our staff. She accused us of every thing she could and wanted the Rx to go elsewhere, even though she was getting everything free from our state Medicaid plan. After much frustration, I printed both her Rx and her husbands then she immediately accused us of giving out medical information and a hipaa violation.

My thought is this is like picking up an RX from a pharmacy for a family member. She showed intent for care and it's not PHI.

Thoughts???
Thanks!!!

Who cares? She's gone. Ignore her.

Unfortunately, we have not heard the last of her.

I would have happily handed her the prescriptions and entered notes in the system about her treatment of employees.

On an unrelated note, I have an employer that has informed me I am to fill ANY prescription that a patient has, regardless if it is expired OR if another doctor wrote it. My employer claims that a one year prescription expiration date is “merely a ploy to make sure people come back for an exam”. I am unable to find definitive rules on the AOA or IOA sites....can anyone help me with this? I am very uncomfortable doing this and putting my ABO on the line.

Thanks!

Thanks for the reply...I do still have the Hipaa issue though.
As far as your expiration issue - think the employer is wrong and why run a business that way. We should be concerned with the well being of our patients and that they receive the proper care.

xx

HIPAA is related to medical records, and an eyeglass Rx is not classified as a medical record. The exam notes though are. It's part and partial why someone can take their Rx from one office to another dispensary without signing a Records Release form. However, if they want their eye exam information sent over, they have to sign a Records Release form.

It had to be very stressful dealing with such an irate patient. It's clear that information about what was covered by their Medicaid plan was not communicated clearly to them and you all got the brunt of their frustration. Remember that for many people, glasses are a very expensive thing, and for some it means going without other things even with the heavy government discounts and rebates. Sticker shock is real.