Comments on: Hey! Checkout What I Got From the Pharmacy Today!

By: Admin

Admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:06:27 +0000

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.

By: KT

KT — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:39:42 +0000

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.

By: Frantic Pharmacist

Frantic Pharmacist — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:28:56 +0000

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.

By: a pharmacist

a pharmacist — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:16:19 +0000

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.