I never will understand the way people think. What could possibly be going through their heads to make them not so smart? I was calling on several medical offices today to encourage them to transform their medical records over to an electronic format. Thanks to Obama, every medical office where patient paper records are kept has to change them to electronic format to protect the weak and innocent or something like that...Any Who, you can see how stressful it is as you look at the horror built into the faces of the records department and medical staff. You can see the lengths of football fields of medical files for every patient that has possibly graced through their door since 1492. I spoke with several today that were just finishing up this transformation with a sigh of relief and an exasperated, “It took us 9 months and we're almost done.” Seriously? Was someone hand typing each and every document one by one because your medical office could fit in my living room....OK, and the kitchen. So one lady tells me, “We don’t plan on doing that for the next 5-7.” “Like in 5-7 months?” “No, like in the next 5-7 years.” Mmmkay, “You know that by law (and I threw this out there loosely in case they had never seen a computer or ever heard of the Internet) you have to go electronic by the end of 2010?”
And that’s when it happened.
That’s when the gates opened up and I personally put down that there soapbox for this woman to climb onto and give me her every thought on the HIPPAA regulations in her loudest inside voice in which I generously wanted to throw out to her that I never once mentioned HIPPAA as I looked around the waiting room for some culprit I could point my finger at. I threw out an “Amen” so I wouldn’t be condemned to a life in Hell trapped in a cell with Jimmy Hoffa positioned next to a public toilet for interrupting or for not calling her “ma’am.” All I can say is that Fire and brimstone was falling all around me while she was going off on the urgency of HIPPAA compliance and the threat of getting fined for a violation....has anyone ever been charged?...are there HIPPAA police?...who's going to enforce THIS new law?...AND, OMG, BREATHE WOMAN, BREATHE. I MEAN, MA'AM!!
Onto the next office… where the receptionist said, “I don’t know if we’re already electronic or not.” Insert sarcasm here: Um, I’m going to go ahead and ask you to turn your head and look at all of the file folders you have catalogued to heaven back there and also on your desk. I am sure you have a room or better yet, a storage unit, filled with dead or non-current patients, am I correct? Well, just for future reference, you’re not paperless.” OK. That’s what I said in my head and, of course, I very politely, dripping with sweetness informed her that she most likely wasn’t paperless due to the stack of files I was pointing to. That's when she let out a hearty laugh. Wow. Please don’t be the one that's left alone with small children.
Every day is interesting at work and I could write daily on what me and my comrades encounter . It’s good stuff. You know who has better stories? Doctor's offices! I could tell you some juicy ones that I have overheard but then that would be a violation of HIPPAA and we just couldn’t have that now, could we?
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