I
don't think it is Individually Identifiable Health Information or Personal
Health Information that would be covered with liability under the act.
There is no diagnosis or even drug purchased as recorded in these fields.
We also don't know if it is a dependent or other person that the scrip was
actually for. TO avoid discussion of whether this is PHI we could say
yes...but reality is that we have to discuss intent and "reasonable".
The
act or even GLB was not intended to keep pharmacists or or anyone else from
marketing their services. I am not a lawyer either. If access to the
list "Pharmacy Customer" would imply a diagnosis or even a
demographic aspect it might then be qualified. To say Jane Doe
received a prescription should not be PHI> Simply it was to keep the
mailer that would give any indication or record in-house of any specific drugs
the client might then receive. Can't pharmacists reasonably keep
lists of their current clients? I would be concerned at our
inhibition of commerce at some point. Shouldn't pharmacy's and drug stores
be able to market specials and information to their clients from a generally
maintained database? As long as they were not marked on the outside
generically? And the lists for prospective customers maintained with
restrictions to a generic listing - e.g. pharmacy customer?
Joe
Joseph Schein
Sr.
Consultant
Director of Business Development
Axiom Systems, Inc.
Phone: 757-270-3069
800 #: 800-330-8119 ext 252 or
0 for Operator
Office: 301-840-3861
Fax:
208.275.1777
jschein@axiom-systems.com
See our web site at www.axiom-systems.com
Axiom
Systems: THE MANAGED CARE TECHNICAL EXPERTS
Co Chair - MAHI
Mid
Atlantic Health / HIPAA Initiative
See our website
at www.mahicentral.org
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
MAHI - Saving Time and Money on HIPAA
Compliance
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul J. Breaux [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2001 6:17 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: PHI Question
Paul, the Regulation defines "health care" and "individual health care information" as well as the "protected healthcare information" (PHI); I think you one might reasonably conclude that the fact that some one has purchased an item that can only be prescribed by a physician and dispensed by a pharmacist (i.e., a prescription drug item) is "health care information" of some sort.
Sincerely,
Paul Breaux
Attorney at Law
Lafayette, La. 70501
---------------------------------------------------------
From: "Paul Costello" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 17:11:34 -0500
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: PHI Question
I have a question regarding the definition of personal health information (PHI) and how it is defined the following scenario:
A grocery store that uses "loyalty" cards (cards used by consumers to receive discounts on purchased items) captures, at the point of sale, that a consumer purchased a prescription drug at the pharmacy.
The grocery store stores, in a database, the following information:
Name:
John Doe
Date:
1/1/01
Items:
"Bread"
"Milk"
"Prescription Drug"
Would the fact that John Doe purchased a "prescription drug" on 1/1/01 be considered PHI?
Any insight in greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Paul Costello
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
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