Having recently moved, I found myself needing a dentist and basically had to go through the yellow pages looking for one. I found one that could see me. I was in PAIN so I didn't have time to do a bunch of initial visits to "interview" one that I liked. So I find this dentist and here is what I experienced, I am wondering if you think this was a HIPAA violation?
There is an outer waiting room, a back room which has the Xray machine in it, and one other connected room with 3 dental chairs in it located about 5 feet from each other. (This is a house that has been converted into a dentist office. The 3 chairs were located in what used to be a bedroom.) So basically, it is a "line" of chairs. I was put in the middle chair. There was a woman on my left and a woman on my right. Now, I have had a LOT of dental work done, and I hate it, but I am a big girl and can usually handle it pretty good. Not this time! The dentist put the novacaine in and grabbed the pliers and attempted to pull my tooth. I had nerves exposed. I cried out in pain so she stopped and asked what was wrong. I told her that I had exposed roots and that her pliers hurt. She stated that no, it was just pressure. Ok, I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE! I stated that maybe we could let the novacaine work for a few minutes. She stated again tha all I was feeling was pressure, and started to work again. It hurt so bad that I cried! Heck, I might as well have saved the novacaine fee since she didn't give it time to sink in. In fact, from the time she injected it, to the time my tooth was out was under 5 minutes. Anyway, I am sitting there crying in the chair and open my eyes to see the woman on my left looking at me with pity in her eyes, the woman on my right laughing at me. I walked out of the office wondering if they had made comments about me after I left because they had obviously witnessed the whole event.
Usually I am thick skinned and not a very private person, but this really bothered me. I just wondered if this was a HIPAA violation. I think it was, but maybe it's different in a dentist office? Any other dentist office I have been to had each patient in their own room or at least with partitions between chairs.
Are you guys for real when you imply that OP might want to consider suing ?
I don't know about a lawsuit, but I think maybe reporting it to the licencing body for that state. Maybe there have been similar complaints, and it will help ensure safe practice.
Report that heartless practice. The regulation board for dental practices might have an online form to fill out. Nothing like an impromptu visit from the State to surprise their asses with.
I don't think you would get very far with a HIPAA complaint because you saw how the chairs were set up and still went a ahead with the procedure. Seems like that implies an acceptance of the situation.
As for the treatment itself, I would look into how to file a complaint against the dentist--not for the sake of suing--but to put it on record that her practice leaves a lot to be desired. If she has a number of such complaints, the powers that be might decide to investigate.
The part I found most disturbing is that she didn't allow time for the novocaine to work and then argued with you about what you were feeling. This is not a practitioner you ever want to see again.
i had a similar (though not so gross) experience when i went to an endodontist on recommendation of my beloved general dentist as part of the process for getting an implant. i have had a lot of dental work in my life and know exactly what's going on in there.
so i remove my temporary plate (upper front incisor), leaving behind some of that nasty denture adhesive on the roof of my mouth, and before i can say boo, he's in there with the q-tip with the topical. and less than 10 seconds later, he's in there with the local needle. it hurt like a sunovabitch, really, and i'm used to pain and i tolerate it pretty well, but man o man...; my dentist leaves the topical gel in place at least two minutes to let it get in there... and he makes sure he's applying it to my mucosa, not a blob of fixodent. and eye-rolling when i yelped and my eyes teared up.
so the next time i went back i mentioned this to them and they basically blew me off. i mean, like really, literally rolled their eyes. i said, nicely, "could you please leave the topical on there long enough to make it work? a minute or two? it's really more effective if you do that, please" and they ... didn't.
so i wrote them up on angie's list. hah.
i also mentioned it to my dentist (did i say he's really, really good? just doesn't do implants himself) and asked him if he'd heard this before. he said he'd let them know, in a general sort of way. he did, i think. i don't care if he tells them my name, i ain't never goin' back to those folks, no matter how good they are otherwise. if you won't listen to a patient tell you what works for pain relief you have no business in the business.
this experience -- the butcher extraction case-- sounds like a report to the dental licensing board. you are entitled to make a patient complaint. maybe they have more from this practice. maybe you can help others avoid this by reporting.
Why would it be a HIPAA violation? Did this DDS tell people about what happened in the office? I admit wholeheartedly that his chairside manner needs work, but I don't think a HIPAA violation occurred.
I worked in dentistry for 22 years before becoming a nurse, I can tell you that open-bay operatories are quite standard and are acceptable in every sense of the word--unless of course, YOU don't care for having neighbors while having work done.
FWIW, I've never seen any DDS ever have a separate fee for local anesthetic. "Novocaine" is an archaic term from the 60's and it was doubtful that this is the anesthetic you received.
With all that said, I most certainly would find another practitioner for my future dental needs =)
Specializes in ER/ MEDICAL ICU / CCU/OB-GYN /CORRECTION.
I agree that it is not a HIPAA violation but surely is a gross error in providing adequate analgesia. I sure would be making a complaint with the state professional medical disciplinary board without a second thought, as well as having legal counsel writing a letter and recouping the fee you paid.
You deserves better care than what neglectful abuse was rendered.
We have an area of our ED (and Im guessing ? that may do) where the "rooms" are only separated by a cutrain. When the nurse or doctor comes into the room, the RN/MD will say something to the effect "Mrs. Jones? What brings you in today?" Anytime you come in with a med or to do a tx. you ask the pt to state name and B-day. If someone in the next curtain area is listening, they would know the person's name/birthday, why they are they are, and whatever tx/med they are being given. If this (in the ED) was a HIPAA violation, it would have been reported/corrected by now and the state/joint commission, etc. would have done something about it.
Now, it's true that we have curtains while the OP said the dental office was one big open area. To me it's really no different if other people see you getting the tx versus if they know you personal info and they know what tx your are getting, but don't get to actually witness it.
Either way, however, I think it is very poor taste on the dental office's part to have people right there while you went through the discomort of dental work.
Thank you for all the replies. This is why I asked on here. I knew I would get the answers I sought. I now understand why it is not a HIPAA violation. Again, thanks. I never even thought about the semi private rooms hospitals. You see what happens? When something happens to US (or our kids) sometimes our brains take a vacation, and everything we know goes out the window.
As for the novacaine comment, yes, I know that they don't actually use novacaine anymore, but it seems to be a term that is universally used to describe what you get in a dentists office, right? It is in my world anyway.
As far as suing, no, I would not do that. It was a very uncomfortable for a very short time. It sucked, but I've definitely been through worse. However, reporting her to the dental board might be a good idea.
I WILL NOT be seeing this dentist again. When I did see her, it was not an emergency, but the next closest thing to it. I was in PAIN and the tooth needed to come out.
lrobinson5
691 Posts
I don't know about a lawsuit, but I think maybe reporting it to the licencing body for that state. Maybe there have been similar complaints, and it will help ensure safe practice.