Thanking a patient for a referral
I thought I’d tell the group the opinion I formed regarding this issue in the event it may help others. I thank everyone for their input. I decided that the opportunity to agree or object did not apply in this area because that is reserved for family and friends involved in the patient’s care. Just because you referred someone to your doctor doesn’t make you involved in the person’s care. Then, I got to thinking that this referral program could be considered a marketing program on the part of the doctor in an effort to get more referrals. Basically, it is a disclosure that doesn’t fit into any of the exceptions I know of, therefore…. This disclosure simply isn’t allowed without an authorization. Once I came to that realization, I knew the NPP was completely out of the question. The NPP is designed to inform a patient about allowed disclosures, not take the place of an authorization. In some cases, putting the opportunity to agree or object in a NPP is appropriate if there is a specific mechanism to allow the agreement or objection to be noted above, beyond and separate from the receipt of NPP acknowledgement. So, all this confirmed my opinion all along…yes, take the name off the card. That is the ONLY option, other than dropping the program. It’s the simplest thing to do. De-identify. I never saw this as a privacy mantra before, but I certainly do now. There may need to be some additional steps to keep people from deducing the identity of the referral. (One can refer a friend today and get a thank you note tomorrow, or a thank you note once a month.) I’m thinking this is the stage where someone says…is all this really necessary? I say yes. News travels fast whether it is good or bad and seeing a doctor is always news. These are just my personal opinions and I am not a lawyer, so take it all with a grain of salt or aspirin as the case may be! Catherine Lohmeier Implementations Project Lead OD Professional™ Team 888.621.5751 x 15 402.423.6509 x 15 --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org
RE: Thanking a patient for a referral
Why does the thank you note have to identify the patient who was referred? Seems to me if the thank you note said "Our office thanks you for referring a friend to our office," that accomplishes the same purpose, and does not release PHI. I had an eye doctor once who was referred to me by my aunt. I was apparently not the first person she referred, and he ended up giving her a discount on her next visit for all the business. But I do not think it would have been necessary for him to tell her "Rachel stated she was referred by you; that's the fourth referral you made, here's a 10% discount," but could say "Thank you for the four referrals. To show our appreciation, we are offering you a 10% discount on you next visit." Rachel --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org
RE: Thanking a patient for a referral
And if all else fails, couldn't the doctor send a note to the patient saying. "Thank you for referring your friend." With no name, there is no PHI, right? Deborah Campbell -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 9:20 PMTo: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup ListSubject: Re: Thanking a patient for a referralA good old fashioned thank you may now have to be first requested by the doctor when in with the referred patient. If the patient agrees, document a verbal agreement and then send the thank you note. We should not be so worried in this environment, that we either forget or discontinue common courtesies. Julie TomkinsonTOMKINSONHealth Consulting ---The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time.You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org
Re: Thanking a patient for a referral
A good old fashioned thank you may now have to be first requested by the doctor when in with the referred patient. If the patient agrees, document a verbal agreement and then send the thank you note. We should not be so worried in this environment, that we either forget or discontinue common courtesies. Julie Tomkinson TOMKINSONHealth Consulting --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org
Re: Thanking a patient for a referral
If the CE determines that this disclosure is not for TPO, but is an acceptable disclosure under the Privacy Rule (perhaps placing it under a disclosure of PHI to friends or family), and they determine that a formal or written authorization is not required, you may want to look at CONTENT OF NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES SECTION 164.520(b)(1)(ii)(B) "A description of each of the other purposes for which the covered entity is permitted or required by this subpart to use or disclose protected health information without the individuals written authorization." Based only on this, you may want to consider adding a statement to the provider's NPP that says something like "If a new patient informs us that they are here through a referral and provide the name of the individual who provided the referral, a thank you note is sent to the referring individual." If this is a practice that the provider wishes to continue, it would probably be a good idea that a procedure is put in place to provide the individual an opportunity to object. Finding a good health care provider is getting hard. Sometimes individuals may say that so-and-so referred me to you, hoping to improve the chances that the provider will agree to schedule an appointment for them and take them on as a patient. The individual may have gotten an "in-direct" referral and would be uncomfortable if the person who they said referred them got a thank you note for doing so. Sometimes individuals may say, "I have a friend that has this medical problem. I know that you mentioned you had the same condition. Would you recommend the doctor you use?" The individual may have a friend, or they may want a referral to a doctor from a friend they trust, but don't want their friend to know that they also have a medical problem. Health care, and personal privacy are a strange combination unique to the individual. So what works for most, may not work for everyone. Regards, ShareHIPAA http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ShareHIPAA Catherine Lohmeier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I would appreciate any opinions on this one. Please use citations if you have them since that will help me document any decisions we make. Scenario: Patient A refers their friend Patient B to his/her doctor. Patient B goes to that doctor. The doctor wants to thank Patient A for the referral and sends a note saying Thank you for referring Patient B to my office and that is the extent of it My first take on this is that it is not a disclosure of PHI, which therefore is not affected by HIPAA. Patient A already has Patient Bs name, otherwise how could there be a referral. But, I can also see that once Patient B has seen the doctor the connection of Patient Bs name with having seen the doctor becomes PHI. a) Would this be a disclosure that Patient B should be given the opportunity to agree or object to? It seems that would cover it without having to do a formal authorization. This is what I am leaning toward. b) Should a formal authorization be required? Seems overkill. c) Should the Thank you be sent without identifying anyone? This could work though it may not be as effective. d) Should the program be dropped? Again, this seems unnecessary. Any other opinions? Is there an OCR guideline that addresses something like this? Thanks in advance for any replies. Catherine Lohmeier Implementations Project Lead OD Professional Team 888.621.5751 x 15 402.423.6509 x 15 Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org
Thanking a patient for a referral
I would appreciate any opinions on this one. Please use citations if you have them since that will help me document any decisions we make. Scenario: Patient A refers their friend Patient B to his/her doctor. Patient B goes to that doctor. The doctor wants to thank Patient A for the referral and sends a note saying “Thank you for referring Patient B to my office” and that is the extent of it… My first take on this is that it is not a disclosure of PHI, which therefore is not affected by HIPAA. Patient A already has Patient B’s name, otherwise how could there be a referral. But, I can also see that once Patient B has seen the doctor the connection of Patient B’s name with having seen the doctor becomes PHI. a) Would this be a disclosure that Patient B should be given the opportunity to agree or object to? It seems that would cover it without having to do a formal authorization. This is what I am leaning toward. b) Should a formal authorization be required? Seems overkill. c) Should the “Thank you” be sent without identifying anyone? This could work though it may not be as effective. d) Should the program be dropped? Again, this seems unnecessary. Any other opinions? Is there an OCR guideline that addresses something like this? Thanks in advance for any replies. Catherine Lohmeier Implementations Project Lead OD Professional™ Team 888.621.5751 x 15 402.423.6509 x 15 --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org
