Originally Posted by
J_9
I am a Registered Nurse and certified in HIPAA. As long as there was no identifying information, i.e. your name, the name of the medication or the specific illness, no violation has occurred.
They CAN leave your name, obviously the message is for you. But like J_9 said, they cannot leave any identifying info about the prescription.
If they reach a person and not voicemail, they are only allowed to say the prescription is ready, or if there is a problem, to ask for a return call concerning the prescription. They cannot discuss or mention the problem, be it not in stock, an insurance issue (ie, only generic covered but doctor wrote name brand requried), to early to fill, etc. If you've opted for reminder phone calls for refills, they can call when refills are due, but can't leave a message as to which ones are due.
It's customary to call patients when electronic or telephoned prescriptions are ready. It's also customary to call when prescriptions have been sitting for a couple days and then again before returning to inventory.