Monday, June 13, 2005

No Cure for the Pure

No, no, no, no, no!
Don't do this:
"...he was not happy when a Charlotte doctor's office insisted on having his Social Security number when Locke brought his 16-year-old son in for treatment last month.
In the wrong hands, Social Security numbers are identity theft booster rockets. They're used by criminals to open credit card accounts, commit financial fraud and put a victim into a mess of debt.
Why did the doctor's office -- Mecklenburg Dermatology Associates -- need his Social Security number?
The office manager, Felicia Canty, said it's required by HIPAA, the federal medical privacy law."

This stuff is hard enough to deal with. Lets not set up adversarial relationships with the very people we are supposed to be helping. Whether this was a training issue, or just an office manager who just wasn't going to be told how things works (and as a sometime consultant, I know that the real power in the office is the office manager--- regardless of whose name is on the corner office door--- fail to sell the office manager on a new compliance measure or procedure, and you have wasted your money and time) doesn't really matter. What matters is this is thunderously rotten customer service, and a very stupid thing to get yourself in the paper over.

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