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Bev, so sorry to hear this, missed your original post. With all the stupid paperwork you have to go thru for the "Privacy" BS, and hoops you have to jump thru to get your OWN information, and they can do this? And send you a letter a month later? NOT GOOD ENOUGH!! Copy the letter to your Senators and Congresspeople. Demand that they look into it, do not ask nicely. Copy the letter to your state board of health, physicians network, nurses network, local newspapers and television stations, and a lawyer. By all means vent, but vent to people in charge of this kind of stuff, too. Demand the credit guard things the others were talking about. Demand to know who the employee is, and have your lawyer write that employee a letter, as well as the doctor's office, because they are the ones responsible for keeping this information "Private", and inform them that they will be individually and collectively responsible for any damages that result from this irresponsible breach of trust, including damage to your peace of mind. I'd be re training that employee with a 3 lb sledge hammer, if he/she were my employee. I don't mean to say don't pray about it, but please DO something about it as well, something very loud and annoying, or this kind of thing won't ever stop. This "privacy" nonsense has me hand-carrying information back and forth between doctors, because nobody ever seems to give me the right number of forms to fill out so they can FAX information back and forth and coordinate care. But this fool can leave you file lying who knows where, haul it all over hell's half acre, leave it out for anyone to copy and take, and there are no consequences? They apologize for the inconvenience? Oh, Bev, please, show them just how inconvenient it can be to be so incompetent, please please!!! Don't take this lying down. I am perfectly serious, I used to be in broadcasting, your local news would be interested, if your anchors have half a brain and any kind of investigative reporting instinct at all. Don't just shrug it off, shout it from the rooftops, because it won't get better until people who are mis-used complain about it. Very best of luck to you, hugs, Marji
33451Bad news! I hope the person responsible is being reprimanded. Tell them an apology is not enough and to fork over $10,000 to handle the problem. Money is the only thing that makes people do a better job. It is so wrong!
173584OMG.........unbelievable, Bev!! I am speechless, the length of time between the event and notifying you is unacceptable, I can't even imagine how violated you must feel and vulnerable.......if you have an attorney, call and find out how to protect yourself!!!
261161No wonder you are cross. Perhaps they are just misfiled. Why on earth didn't they phone you instead of writing a letter? All sounds very incompetent to me. Hugs Sarah.
253107So if it wasn't for the federal law you would not even known about it?
Someone was very careless and you should have been informed immediately.
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360438I do hope Bev that they can be located and have only been misplaced. I think they should be making this a PRIORITY to locate it. Good luck with it all. Love and blessings Chris
234256Goodness, what were your records doing out of the original office anyway? If some doctor offsite needs them, then a copy should be made and the original records should remain at the original office. Someone dropped the ball. Your records probably got put inside another folder and no one knows it so one day they will show up after you have filled out new ones and answered all those questions again. I used to work in a clinic and once in awhile 2 folders were combined. It was a mess to find who was in when and go back and look through the files to find the missing records. Mistakes happen but those files should have never been removed. Hope things work out.
4436Oh, my.....not good. I can pray that they be found in the hands of some innocuous person or agency and that they be returned to you immediately. I hate that this has happened to you. It's not like you haven't had to go through enough. I'm so sorry.
158559Very sorry to hear this has happened. I hope it turns up in a safe place. Shirley
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740430Contact the credit bureaus immediately (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to place a notice of possible identity theft which will place a temporary freeze on any new accounts opened in your name. You also should contact the pharmacy which fills your prescriptions to make sure none have refilled without your approval. Verify with Dr.s office your scheduled visits to check that no one is using your identity for medical services.
7080Very scary. I am hopeful that if nothing bad has happened in the past month that you will be ok.
168959Even more scary is they sent a letter and didn't call you. Keep that letter to use against them and for your own protection.
by bevintex
09 Sep 2013
it is ,this happened on or about Aug 7th and today is Sept 9 so they haven't turned up in the past month and this is the first I'm made aware of it.
1572Wow, not what you want to hear, especially these days when there is so much ID theft going on in the world. You might want to seek legal councel about what you could do to help protect yourself, in the event that someone does try to use your personal info.
Did your nurse ask those Drs. offices to search their own medical record files for your folder? Sometimes things get picked up and put away with the rest of the files left out at the end of the day (you can only hope it was as simple as this).
Regardless, that Home Health Agency should make finding your records a high priority. Their simple apology truly is the LEAST they could do. I'd want them to do the MOST possible, and go out of their way to do it. Just mention " HIPAA" and see if they move a little faster to help you....
Wish you luck in getting to the bottom of this and finding the files safe in good hands soon.
by bevintex
09 Sep 2013
they "think" there were left at a Dr's office but can't be sure so they could be anywhere,if someone does find them I hope they will at least call and let me know,it's too much personal info to be just floating around "somewhere"
31625Great.. they will get some training, and you are left with an apology and all the hassle !. Hope it turns out soon and no harm is done !
146852Oh my goodness Bev how incredibly irresponsible of them! Is there anything that you can do about this?
by bevintex
edited 09 Sep 2013
Just put an alert on my credit report and watch for suspicious activity, The reason they told me is because federal law says I have to be notified. they will conduct additional training on patient privacy with the employee.
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