HIPAA Pharmacy Rules & Patient Prescription PHI

HIPAA Compliance for Pharmacies & Medical Providers Must Be Adhered To
HIPAA Pharmacy Rules and Procedures

HIPAA Prescriptions Information Management

HIPAA eCommerce platforms can leverage patient specific prescription information in order to give a patient the necessary access to purchase — even see information — about an item based on their prescription.

Typically, the best way to handle prescription information with HIPAA eCommerce is to show options but restrict users from actually checking out or adding something to their cart in the e-pharmacy. For them to move forward in the purchasing process, they would need to have the right prescription. From there, the prescription would only unlock the items and categories relating to said prescription.

Essentially, when a patient goes to a HIPAA compliant website and navigates, they can actually categorize or filter the items that require a prescription. There would be a visual indicator, perhaps an icon or a different background shade. It could even be a text indicator. The indicator itself isn’t what matters, but rather that they are notified that the item or items require a prescription.

 
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Validation and Processing Methods on HIPAA Websites

Providing Prescriptions to Patients

In addition, there needs to be a clear process for the user to actually provide the prescription. They should also be able to see the status on the prescription itself and where it currently is at in the approval workflow. (This is possible via the website, patient portal, or HIPAA compiant mobile app.) Typically, there is some form of required human interaction in verifying the prescription. It is physically possible to offer a prescription to users and, even if not initially, provide items that require specific prescriptions to purchase. This prescription requirement can become an advantage, as it creates a specific additional step in a streamlined and simple manner.

When obtaining a prescription, the user needs to clearly understand the process and the different methods for providing their prescription information. It can be as simple as the user taking a picture of their prescription and then uploading it to the site. From there, the prescription can be sent to the appropriate distribution list at the HIPAA eCommerce companies, administration, customer support, or the prescription group. The receiver would then need to complete a workflow verifying the products that that particular user should now have access to.

A HIPAA compliant website accessed via mobile device

Follow HIPAA Pharmacy Rules

There are many laws — HIPAA-related and otherwise — that must be followed in order to create a secure pharmacy website. Clarity can show you exactly how it's done.

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The Best patient portals protect Patients and Doctors alike

Legal Validity & Documentation

It’s important to verify that each doctor and their license is still valid to ensure that the prescription is legally sound. There is a process for reviewing prescriptions to make sure that they are not forged. Also, whenever someone uploads a prescription, they will need to sign off indicating that they understand they are proving a legal document. This means they understand the consequences should they provided a forged or intentionally incorrect document or prescription.

Generally speaking, customer support or the prescription group will need to verify which products the prescription applies to and which it does not. For example, let's say a user provides a prescription that falls into a category like prescription lenses and lens details. The HIPAA eCommerce group needs to enable the administrators, customer support, or prescription group to “decorate” the user’s record with more information, noting that this particular user should have access to prescriptions regarding their specific prescription lenses.

The sales portal software would then need to be intelligent enough to understand that the user meets specific criteria for their prescription, and then unlock certain features and items in their searching and filtering capabilities. This could mean they may only have access to a single product, but now they can access different counts of their product, meaning they could purchase monthly or daily contact lenses. Or maybe someone can see the different pill counts available for their prescription. Typically they will be required to renew their prescription after a couple of purchases.

HIPAA Pharmacy Rules and Medication Notifications

Prescription Renewal Process

It’s important for the user to be notified when the renewal process of a prescription is about the go underway. They need to know exactly when their medications are about to expire, and they need to procure another prescription order from their medical provider. The eCommerce pharmacy site will likely need this information in advance in order to prevent the user from running out of any important prescriptions.

It’s also possible for the user to complete certain steps in order to engage with prescription-based items. This means they could renew an item on your HIPAA compliant website before their actual prescription expires, allowing for them to be confident that their medical needs will be met.

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Websites, Portals, and Apps

Whether you're looking for a new HIPAA compliant app, website, or portal—or want to integrate existing ones—we can make it happen. Contact Clarity and let us know about your biggest concerns.

Hel with HIPAA Pharmacy Rules

Clarity Marketplace Experts

We strongly suggest you consider these things when you begin considering which healthcare app developer and HIPAA compliant website designers you will be using in your next project. You want to ensure the platform has the capability for using prescriptions, even if it isn’t a need you have at the beginning of your business timeline.

If you have any further questions regarding HIPAA policies and prodecures for pharmacies—including the necessity of a HIPAA compliant portal—please reach out to us; we would be happy to help you out! We have also provided further resources regarding HIPAA eCommerce below in hopes of helping you make the most informed decisions possible.