Hippa violation at a local pharmacy?

[bconner]

I have been using a pharmacy in my area for a couple years. I have never really had any problems. Recently I started getting calls to refill a prescription in another state. The next time I was picking up my prescription at the pharmacy I asked about this. The pharmacist said my account had been merged with another person of the same name in another state (person X). She went over the details of my account giving me my name, my insurance information, my phone number, my prescriptions, and also X's address, drug allergies and prescriptions. I have been in communication with my insurance company to see if her prescriptions were being applied to my insurance or not. The pharmacist I dealt with said that her help desk would have to separate the two accounts and she would give me a call when everything was fixed. She called the next day and said it was good. YAY@

BUT, I received a call today asking me to refill prescriptions in another state again! I called my local pharmacy and they told me all of her information has been removed from my account and even gave me the phone number on my account (which is correct), which means that on her NEW account they have my contact information. They said they would try to take care of it and that they would call me (again) when it was being completed.

At this point I am so extremely frustrated that my personal information has been floating around for other people to use! They had listed on my personal information on their system that I was allergic to drugs that I was not, which is a huge issue!!! What if it had been the other way around? What if I said that I was not allergic to something and they gave X something that killed them!

Is this a violation of hippa and what can I do???

Any information would be helpful! Thank you!

 

[army judge]

I have been using a pharmacy in my area for a couple years. I have never really had any problems. Recently I started getting calls to refill a prescription in another state. The next time I was picking up my prescription at the pharmacy I asked about this. The pharmacist said my account had been merged with another person of the same name in another state (person X). She went over the details of my account giving me my name, my insurance information, my phone number, my prescriptions, and also X's address, drug allergies and prescriptions. I have been in communication with my insurance company to see if her prescriptions were being applied to my insurance or not. The pharmacist I dealt with said that her help desk would have to separate the two accounts and she would give me a call when everything was fixed. She called the next day and said it was good. YAY@

BUT, I received a call today asking me to refill prescriptions in another state again! I called my local pharmacy and they told me all of her information has been removed from my account and even gave me the phone number on my account (which is correct), which means that on her NEW account they have my contact information. They said they would try to take care of it and that they would call me (again) when it was being completed.

At this point I am so extremely frustrated that my personal information has been floating around for other people to use! They had listed on my personal information on their system that I was allergic to drugs that I was not, which is a huge issue!!! What if it had been the other way around? What if I said that I was not allergic to something and they gave X something that killed them!

Is this a violation of hippa and what can I do???

Any information would be helpful! Thank you!

You might want to review your other personal information.

Maybe someone has hacked the store's website and illegally obtained (and is using) your personal information.

 

[bconner]

I haven't had any issues with any other personal information (bank account, credit cards, etc). I was told by the pharmacist that mistakes like this can happen if they only verify a persons name at the pharmacy and that "they needed to get this taken care of immediately because of personal privacy laws." But it still isn't fixed. I don't even know who to ask about this since the pharmacy is having such a hard time fixing it.

 

[guestpost]

I apologize for the customer service in the situation and feel bad that you have gotten no where at all this is sad-very sad in a healthcare environment the pharmacy sounds like cvs and the pharmacy itself sounds like topeka kansas cvs. they do the same thing when people ask for information poor customer service and mailing people rx when it violates everything!