Hey! Checkout What I Got From the Pharmacy Today!
I’m not sure about you, but I try to keep my customer details private. Whether that is when I am counseling them on a new script or talking about a product while in the shop area. I’m not sure if one direction I’ve noticed recently is the best to preserve confidentiality…
SHHH. ZIP IT!
I’m used to bagging items in the pharmacy’s paper bags after I check the script, or in some places the tech will bag it for you once you’ve checked it. Either way, my point is, it ends up in a bag before it leaves the dispensary – and more importantly the bag is not transparent. I have noticed at a couple of places that they place dispensed meds in a transparent bag, and it only gets bagged in the shop bag (or not at all I guess considering the environmentally friendly stance/saving money on bags reasonings) at the register.
Knowing how sensitive people can be to others knowing their personal and medical information, isn’t this a problem? Yeah, I know, the average person is probably not going to know what a drug is by glancing at the box, but many people have experience with their own medication or a relatives medication, so it is not to crazy to assume that from the time you pick up your medications, and get a couple of things from the shop section, then wander over to the register line and wait, at least someone is going to glance and recognize what you are taking.
Drugs that people might be embarrassed to advertise they are using, Viagra, Cialis and so on, will be in full view unless the customer clutches it strategically. I don’t think customers should have to do that, or feel awkward or embarrassed when they receive drugs from their pharmacy. You might think I’m over exaggerating things, but we’ve all been in the situation I’m sure, at least a few times depending on how long you have been practicing, where a person you are trying to counsel and get important information on is clamming up because they are embarrassed, or flat out tell you off for being intrusive. This also becomes a business problem because it may prevent the customer back coming the next time for scripts.
Is my example an isolated case? I suppose the clear bags reduce the chance of the patient getting the wrong drug (whether through picking up the wrong bag or dispensing error) as they may glance at it and realize it doesn’t look familiar (though with generic brand changes that’s happening all the time). So it does have merit, but is that enough to validate the probable loss in confidentiality?
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January 25th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Clear plastic or glass doesn’t meet the confidentiality requirement. In the US, we have gummed up the works intertwining commonsense and ordinary decency with a government mandate protecting consumers from having their private matters sold for business profitability to insurers under the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) guidelines. Truth be told, most people in health care think HIPAA protects patients from businesses matching patient names with drugs and other protected information, but when patients sign up for insurance, there’s usually a questionnaire or physical exam required which provides information to the insurance company anyway, and when companies arrange to change insurers or the client moves to another job, one might well wonder what happens to the private information. Of what benefit is maintaining private information, if it has to be revealed to the insurer, to the end result in sky-high rates as compared to others under the same group health insurance? So what if a person cannot be denied health insurance, isn’t it inequitable to be charged an exorbitant rate for a resolved pre-existing condition? Well, the actuaries study it. It’s ultimately a business decision as run by the health insurers.
January 26th, 2010 at 4:58 am
I couldn’t agree more, and this is a pet peeve of mine!! One of the pharmacies I work at follows a procedure of throwing around patients’ prescription orders in open ‘baskets’. They can remain this way all the way up to the front counter where a clerk handles it from there. Don’t like it at all. Plus, I agree with you that patients shouldn’t have their hemorrhoid cream and GoLytely on display for the entire waiting room to view.
January 26th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
We have the baskets at our pharmacy, but the customers name can’t be seen from the counter. Personally, and I know my colleagues are very sensitive to confidentiality, we usually have displays on our counters so the medication can be hidden behind it while the patient is being counselled. We also keep items such as pregnancy tests close to the counter, and I would scan something like this promptly then immediately put it in a bag, holding it underneath the counter so someone else that is waiting cannot see it. If someone is getting a large amount of medication we would package it our paper bags, then put these bags in a plastic bag. I cringe every time I see staff ask customers if they’d like just a plastic bag for their medication, or even when customers tell me not to worry about a bag.
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:36 pm
It’s comforting to see I am not the only person that thinks this way. No one else appeared to think it was an issue in that workplace, which I thought was odd…I’m not usually a cry baby when it comes to rights and privacy issues etc, yes it’s important, but I’m not one for worrying about minor details. This seems more than a minor problem to me.