Hello,
This scenario reminds me of the old "bounced-check list" that retail
shops used to keep (maybe they still do). Sounds like you are sharing this
information for treatment purposes in advance of the customer's possible
visit...an interesting situation. Your actions sound reasonable, for the
good of the patient, the physician, the pharmacy and the commmunity BUT...to
distribute the name before they ever present themselves there as a
shoppper...that sounds like too much information to be sharing. Sounds like
the buyer could nail you for something. I believe that INTERNALLY, a
pharmacy network may openly share such data base information but it does
sound like a stretch to broadcast his/her name to all pharmacies-no matter
how good your intentions are. If there is a crime involved or something of
course then the authorities can alert all pharmacies.
If you are really set on going externally with your suspicions, why
don't you arrange an understanding with other pharmacies... that they might
get anonymous calls with unofficial "alerts" about certain customers who may
be abusing the system. Alert the pharmacies then and see how it goes. It's
passing the buck to your partners but it is one way of warning them and
protecting yourself also. Your intentions are reasonable and your
motivation sound.
Paula Cook
Riverview Association
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 2:54 PM
To: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List
Subject: is this practice O.K.?
The practice that I am going to describe is quite common in our community
but I am not sure it is acceptable. I wanted the opinion of the experts on
this list.
Occassionally, we run into a problem with a patient who seems to be doctor
hopping and getting multiple prescriptions for narcotics. In order for the
patient's principle physician to keep a close watch on the patient's use of
narcotics and to avoid abuse/misuse of narcotics, the physician makes a deal
with the patient. The deal is "ALL prescriptions for narcotics must be
funneled through one doctor-the primary care physician." The patient
usually agrees but then (and here is where I am not sure if we are
infringing on privacy)we can send an "Alert" to all the area pharmacies to
alert them that this deal occurred and if the patient shows up at one of the
area pharmacies with a narcotic prescription from someone other than the
primary care physician, the patient is told that they have an order that
they can not fill the prescription unless it comes from the designated
doctor.
Is this practice acceptable? Do we need the patient's consent to notify all
heighborhood pharmacies? Is verbal consent acceptable? Can the information
be sent to the pharmacies without the patient's specific consent (that is,
the patient consented to the arrangement that one doctor fills all narcotic
prescriptions but the patient did not consent to the information being sent
to all area pharmacies? )
Thank you
Rich Fairley, M.D.
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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.
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