Standards and Practices

HIPAA Compliance

We use a system that ensures full HIPAA compliance: we do not store protected health informationpatient names and addressesonline. Your practitioner account information, along with order numbers and dates, is used to reference formulas you have ordered. Here's how it works:

  • When you place an order you can either have it shipped to your own address and manage PHI entirely within your office, or you can e-mail us with the patient's name, address, and the order number. We use Hushmail's HIPAA-compliant e-mail service at this address: [email protected].
  • During the checkout process we ask if the order will be shipped to your patient and also ask you to provide the patient's first and last initials. The above e-mail link is provided on the checkout page so that you can easily send the patient's address to us.     
  • After receiving PHI and treatment information (the formula, dosages, and other patient instructions) separately, we connect these pieces of information OFFLINE, and store the completed record in a secured electronic database that remains OFFLINE.

In this manner we have full possession of and control over the PHI necessary for record-keeping and no third-party associates at remote locations can access it.

Our system does require practitioners to refer back to their patient records in order to access and to refill past formulas. We suggest that you record order numbers for each formula so that you also have the connected information—you might print or save a copy of the invoice and attach it to your own records. We can easily access and provide information about a previous order in the event that you do not have ready access to your own documentation.

Lot Number Tracking:

We record lot numbers for individual herbs in every formula that we dispense. We are able to quickly contact practitioners and patients in the event of a recall, and to provide lot numbers to all necessary parties and agencies if a patient experiences an adverse event.

Order accuracy and processing standards:

Before a formula is dispensed, the individual herb bottles are checked three ways in sequence: by the Pinyin name, the manufacturer number, and the pharmaceutical name. As each herb is dispensed its bottle is separated from the row of bottles, and the completed formula is weighed to verify that the total weight matches the gram total of the order. The granules are then placed in a clean stainless steel bowl that is covered with a snap-on lid and thoroughly shaken. They are finally placed in a foil bag or plastic bottle: foil bags are heat-sealed and bottles are sealed with a tamper-evident plastic seal. Lot numbers are then recorded before the individual herb bottles are re-shelved.

Cleanliness:

Our dispensary is located in a dedicated room that is cleaned daily. The dispensing surfaces and scale tops are cleaned after each order is filled, and clean scale trays and mixing bowls are used for each formula.