Pharmacy records found in public restroom.Storing customer records in an unlocked file cabinet in a public restroom is not a wise legal or public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most move. But that's where a Walgreens in Creve Coeur, Missouri Creve Coeur, derived from French for "broken heart" (Crève Cœur), is a city in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 16,500 at the 2000 census. Creve Coeur borders and shares a zip code with the neighboring City of Town and Country. , was reportedly storing hundreds of prescription records more than a decade old. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the only major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the region, and is available and read as far west as Springfield, Missouri. , at least one customer informed managers about the possible privacy violation after noticing the worn four-drawer file cabinet in the women's restroom. The unlocked cabinet sat beneath the paper towel dispenser A paper towel dispenser is a device that dispenses paper towels in a public restroom when in use. It can either be operated by a handle or automatic. These dispensers are common in North America and other western countries. , between the sink and a full-length, padlocked locker. Looking for toilet paper, the customer pulled on one of the cabinet's rusty handles and found prescriptions bundled by date, about a month's worth in each file. When she returned to the store a few days later, however, she found the cabinet and its contents were still there, despite management's assurances to her that it would be taken care of. Allowing prescriptions to be accessible by the general public is a violation of federal privacy laws. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website, Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when (HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191) Also known as the "Kennedy-Kassebaum Act," this U.S. law protects employees' health insurance coverage when they change or lose their jobs (Title I) and provides standards for patient health, ) of 1996, any entity covered by the law must adopt safeguard measures to keep patient information confidential and protected from individuals who have no reason to access it. Kevin Kinkade, executive director for the Missouri Board of Pharmacy, told the Post-Dispatch that the state of Missouri requires pharmacies to maintain records for five years in a way that protects patient privacy. Physical paper records can be transferred onto microfilm, microfiche, CD, or other electronic format after three years, and after five years, prescription records can be destroyed. Kinkade could not comment on whether an investigation had been launched into the Creve Coeur Walgreens, but he told the Post-Dispatch that any violation confirmed by the pharmacy board could result in discipline ranging from a warning letter to probation or revocation of a pharmacy's license. |
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