Medical courier training, who really needs it?

I have a client, whom shall remain nameless, who recently joined up with Integrity Medical Courier Training and had us train all of their employee drivers. With our training programs, we also provide examples of documents that our clients have their drivers sign, ie OSHA Acknowledgments, HIPAA Acknowledgments, etc. Last week, one of their drivers was having an exceptionally bad day, and just decided that they weren’t going to deliver about 8 patient test result envelopes, and tossed them in a garbage can at the gas station. The gas station attendant found the envelopes and called the laboratory to express their concern and alert them of their discovery. Imagine if the gas station attendant wasn’t highly principled and decided to share the patient information with a relative who specialized in identity theft. 
Now imagine that those 8 patients identity was stolen and they were now responsible for a new car, hundreds of dollars worth of stereo equipment, a trip to Tahiti. Maybe one of those patients had a sexually transmitted disease and didn’t want anyone to know, so the thieves call the patient and offer to keep it quiet if they pay up. Now imagine your company gets a visit from the Office for Civil Rights and they want to see proof of a HIPAA Compliance training program for your couriers. Do you have one? Can you prove that your couriers fully understand what their responsibility is in maintaining HIPAA compliance and how to accomplish that? Do you have signed agreements in place with your couriers stating as much? Proof that they attended a training session this year and signed an attendance sheet? 

My client did, and because they had the proper documentation in place, their company will likely be in the clear in regards to any lawsuits or audits and fines from the Office for Civil Rights. The driver, however, is not in the clear. There will still be an investigation and possible civil and criminal ramifications. My client can rest assured that they did all they could to properly train and inform their couriers on HIPAA Compliance because they took advantage of our training services. Because of their choice, they are protected from what could have been a very costly incident involving one of their couriers. Call Integrity Medical Courier Training today to learn more about our “Deluxe Medical Courier Training Program” that includes Specimen Delivery Best Practices and HIPAA Compliance Training and be sure you can rest easy knowing your company is protected as well.