Mailing List Responses PART III

Mailing List Responses PART III

Elizabeth Park

Well -Here they are. At the end is a response from Hanger. We did call him
and he did give a response which I will not post here. I would encourage all
of you to do just what he asks - call him and find out for yourself. Then
tell him exactly what you think of this questionable practice. All I can say is,
money talks -- and where does that leave the rest of us?

Thanks - You are a great bunch!
 
Roger Park C.O.
 
In a message dated 10/25/2007 2:09:21 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
<Email Address Redacted> writes:
Can anyone tell me how certain O & P companies get the names of patients
to
invite them to their facility for an assessment of their current orthotic
or prosthetic device (provided by another practice?) Isn't this clearly a
HIPPA violation? What about our Code of Ethics? I figured it was from the
ACA,
but we have a patient who received an unsolicited letter from this
publicly-held company and he is not a member of ACA.

Thanks!

Roger Park, CO
· Hello Roger:

R> I figured it was from the ACA, but we have a patient who
received an unsolicited letter from this publicly-held company and
he is not a member of ACA.

I am R-BK since …. and have received unsolicited material from a
number of O&P companies and manufacturers. I also do not belong to
ACA. But, there are dozens of sources from which an enterprising
e-mail-address scavenger can harvest.

There are discussion groups on Yahoo, AOL, other ISPs, as well as a
plethora of web sites with bulletin boards, chat and discussion
forums, and other virtual communities that offer up group members
e-mails.

Since …. I have moderated a listserv for discussion of amputee
issues. Any time a subscriber posts, their e-mail becomes available
to all subscribers. The subscriber list, however, is not available to
anyone other than the list owners. That is the only way the entire
subscriber base can maintain that degree of privacy. Once they opt to
post, it is public.

E-mail scavengers can also subscribe to a listserv and cull e-mail
address of amputees from the archives. Some go back years, but if I
were in the business, I would go back for only a limited time.

Privacy issues are very serious notions, and if were were selling
product, I would probably want to target my audience as well.

cheers

· What an interesting question...:o)
·· I would love to see any responses to this. We've had the same
thing happen.....

·· Please share your responses !

· I looked into this a little bit. The ACA really does a great job,
and they have a fair way of using the mailing list. Only gold sponsors, one
time per year. According to the website, that is ossur and otto bock.

As to the mailing, all it takes is the person writing their name one place,
one time. One gets an issue if it is a phone call, but not in writing.

As to HIPPA, it depends how the info first originated. Figure out the
source and then check with a lawyer.

I also do not like the practice, but does this make a violation?
    * I would love to see what other people say about this because we've
had similar experiences from what I'm assuming is the same publicly held
company. Obviously there are some instances where a patient belongs to certain
organizations and those lists go public, or perhaps the patient attended a
community or industry event where their data was recorded, but another thought
we've had is that this company is getting patient data through ties with
certain insurance companies and companies that provide contracting for payors.
I'd be curious to know. If you'd like to repost my response, please keep it
confidential, but I'd love to hear some of your other responses. Thanks!

    * I have asked the staff here at …..and they believe it is the mailing
lists from companies that Hanger has acquired. The ACA used to actually sell
their list of members to Hanger which is questionable ethics. Hanger
appears to operate without either business or personal morals or ethics.
 
    * Roger,
That happens here all the time! My pts bring the mailings in just to show
me. When I asked the area practitioner for that company, he pleaded
ignorance. Really?! he said, I never heard of that; hum. Whatever. I suppose
the deeper your pockets, the fewer rules you have to follow...
    * Turn them in..
    * You can also have the patient sign a medical release and request a
copy of the patients records from the local hanger office.Try the hospital.
If they had a contract and Rx for a stump shrinker, then that way it is in the
mailing list.
· · I would love to see what other people say about this because we've
had similar experiences from what I'm assuming is the same publicly held
company. Obviously there are some instances where a patient belongs to certain
organizations and those lists go public, or perhaps the patient attended a
community or industry event where their data was recorded, but another thought
we've had is that this company is getting patient data through ties with
certain insurance companies and companies that provide contracting for payors.
I'd be curious to know. If you'd like to repost my response, please keep it
confidential, but I'd love to hear some of your other responses. Thanks!


· · I don't know where you are, but a company here on …… does that.
myself and the therapists i work with think it's creepy and tell our
patients to stay clear of that sort of stuff. some of my husband's patients
have gotten similar things.

· Roger
Interesting.
I had two patients( that I found out about) that received info from Hanger.
the patients were referred to the hanger office closest to my office. They had
 both received an AFO from me in the past. The interesting parts are: One
patient lived in a different town about 30 miles away. That town has a Hanger
office, But she wasn't referred to that one. She was referred to on one close
to me.
One pt uses a computer the other doesn't. I suspect they buy lists from the
insurance companies, from an employee, go thru our garbage, hack into our
computers..
Please don't post my name. But if you receive a lot of similar info. I would
be most interested in a class action lawsuit against the culprits.
· I would love to know what you hear about this. I have had a patient
 occasionally say something about this and have been curious as to how
their name was released as well.
· Roger,
The code of ethics only applies to convicted felons, no matter what you
believe our code of ethics are wonderful but worthless to our membership.

· · The names are printed out from the national patient database for the
zip
codes around the branch that is holding the assessment. This can sometimes
include patients who only received a shrinker in the hospital immediately
after amputation, or an adjustment a long time ago. It always seems like a
few people end up on the database that have no memory of having contact with
that company, so I suspect that there is another source as well. Maybe they
have requested information from a supplier or an ad in one of the journals?
I am assuming that the public company you are referring to in your e-mail
question below is Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics.
If you are, please contact me by phone and I will be happy to share with you
where Hanger obtains the names for all mailings.
Dale Berry, CP, FAAOP
VP Clinical Operations
Hanger Orthopedic Group
820 North Lilac Drive, Suite 110
Golden Valley, MN 55422
Phone 763-521-4126
Fax 763-521-4134
Mobile 612-810-1100