(no subject)

[rivka]

So, two days a week I work for the Prince George's County Health Department, as a therapist in their HIV clinic. Last Thursday, I got a message asking me to complete mandatory training in HIPPA, a new set of health care regulations. Fine, that's reasonable. I was a bit irritated to see that, of the fifteen scheduled HIPPA workshops, thirteen of them had already happened - apparently no one got around to telling me I needed to take the training until they were nearly done offering it. But I cleared my schedule for this morning, and signed up for the workshop.

It's rainy and foggy today. Traffic on I-95 was slowed to a crawl. The training was held way in the south of P.G. County, about thirty miles further away than my clinic - which is already twenty miles from my home. Between the weather and the traffic, I was ten minutes late for the morning-long workshop. They wouldn't let me in.

I tried to explain to the woman at the door that I had come all the way from Baltimore, that I only worked for the Health Department part-time, that I couldn't possibly come back tomorrow (for the last scheduled session) because I had another job. I pointed out that it was a choice between allowing me to miss the first ten minutes or having me receive no training at all. I pointed out that the presenter was still going over the agenda - no actual teaching had occurred.

None of this apparently mattered.

So I'm here at the clinic with nothing to do. I called the head of our program to explain why I won't be HIPPA-certified. Everyone is indignant on my behalf, but it doesn't change the fact that I've missed out on information they really needed me to know.

Comments

[elusis.livejournal.com]

That bites.

Take comfort in the fact that in general, HIPPA is less-stringent than most state confidentiality laws (our lobbyist just busted some butt to get a bill killed that would have REPLACED our confidentiality laws with HIPPA... argh!), and that you're probably smart enough to learn them on your own, but of course that doesn't replace being "officially trained" or "certified" or whatnot for licensing purposes. :-/

We're still trying to get caught up on our TCI behavior management re-certs and learn about the new state laws on treating sex offenders.

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Argh. ARGH. How *annoying*, especially for someone who prides herself on efficiency. I say write the person's boss a nasty letter.

-J

[mittelbar.livejournal.com]

That was gonna be my solution. Except then you'll find out something depressing, like the teacher laid down the law, or the person was new, or something. :-p

[eleri.livejournal.com]

my suggestion would be to write and ask them to find another round of HIPPA trainings, and then pay for you to travel to them, since someone didn't tell you about them, until they were almost done.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Oh lord, what an annoying mess.

I'd write a letter to the director of your clinic with the pertinent information and the name of the person who denied you entrance. If the clinic director concurs, I'd also send a formal complaint to whatever agency is in charge of providing the training. That's no way to treat people, and I think it actually violates a couple of different Maryland state laws.