Using an Alias...

[kvl1027]

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Any thoughts on "High profile/famous" patients requesting to use their alias for prescriptions?

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Ron Mexico.

 

[Ackj]

Theoretically it's unnecessary due to hipaa. Although I have certainly heard stories of techs working at major chains typing in celebrity names, so I can definitely see why they would want that additional layer of security.

They'd better be paying cash though, no way would I deal with the hassle of what certainly amounts to insurance fraud. And then there's laws about positive ID for controlled substances.

Thankfully I've never come across this situation, and live in an area where it would be unlikely.

 

[kvl1027]

Definitely not for a controlled substance, but I haven't come across specific law that does not allow it. Although, the part about the patient's name needing to be on the label, and an alias not being the patient's name, leaves little to interpretation.

 

[PolarPop]

Theoretically it's unnecessary due to hipaa. Although I have certainly heard stories of techs working at major chains typing in celebrity names, so I can definitely see why they would want that additional layer of security.

That's kind of scary. If one of them was a dick couldn't they just ask Walgreens for a trace of anyone who downloaded and viewed their profile without a medically necessary reason?

 

[KidPharmD]

That's kind of scary. If one of them was a dick couldn't they just ask Walgreens for a trace of anyone who downloaded and viewed their profile without a medically necessary reason?

I don't think Walgreens would be required to track or maintain this type of data. Who access the profile unusually isn't part of the "medical record" so Walgreens could just claim it a business information.

As for letting them use an Alias, I would not. I had several people ask. Usually telling them the law requires us to put their real name on the profile is sufficient. We did something once. We put in a false first name (put the real one in the comments). When the patient came in, we changed the name, processed the Rx, and then changed the name back. I was not the pharmacist at the time, so it wasn't my decision, and it was someone who had his privacy violated at another chain.

 

[owlegrad]

I don't think Walgreens would be required to track or maintain this type of data. Who access the profile unusually isn't part of the "medical record" so Walgreens could just claim it a business information.

I am willing to bet that if said person filled a complaint about misuse of PHI, Walgreens could find out who accessed the info in a hurry. 😉

Personally I don't think I would have a problem with some paranoid person wanting to use an alias. Heck some of my patients (male and female) have so many multiple ways of giving their name it makes no practical difference.

 

[PolarPop]

I don't think Walgreens would be required to track or maintain this type of data. Who access the profile unusually isn't part of the "medical record" so Walgreens could just claim it a business information.

I was under the impression that anything done while logged on to the system is trackable. This actually happened at Cedars last year, 6 people (4 physicians) got fired for viewing Kim Kardashian's medical records when she gave birth

 

[zelman]

Any thoughts on "High profile/famous" patients requesting to use their alias for prescriptions?

I've got enough prescribers who don't even put their own real name on prescriptions they write for no good reason that this seems like an unimportant matter ("Oh, my real name is John, but I go by Jack" or "Oh, that's my middle name. I just use that so when I call in a prescription and you try to look up my license I don't seem to exist and then your patient is angry that you couldn't fill their prescription"). In fact, in California, you don't even need to create a patient record at all if you don't expect that you will be filling additional prescriptions for them in the future, so why would using a nickname be any worse than no record at all?

 

[gtpederson]

We let people use fake names/addresses at the ED to get their Norco scripts that they pay cash for, why should celebrities be any different?

 

[trailerpark]

So at Walmart I can't look up my whole family/friends?

 

[wucool33]

We let people use fake names/addresses at the ED to get their Norco scripts that they pay cash for, why should celebrities be any different?

Huh? What the f... Can't tell if u r being sarcastic or serious.

I thought it was required to use a patient's real name. Also, how would you be able to track a patient's control fill history through the drug monitoring program if the pt can just use whatever name he/she wanted?

 

[owlegrad]

There is no federal law that a patient name even has to be on a prescription. As always state laws may vary.