Ever hear of CCS Medical?

[My_Dana]

I have this guy calling us after a week that our girl was dx'd from a supply company called CCS Medical. (www.ccsmed.com).

Anyone use them?
They seem to be just a middleman in the Rx presrciption supply chain.
Not sure how they make their money.

The hospital gave this guy all of our medical details which they are not supposed to.

Thanks,
Dana's dad, Ed

[Ellen]

I never heard of them. I would prefer to buy all our diabetes supplies locally but we are forced to use Medco Health :-(. It's been a frustrating experience for years.

[JasonJayhawk]

I have this guy calling us after a week that our girl was dx'd from a supply company called CCS Medical. (www.ccsmed.com).


Hi Dana's Dad,

Wooooah! :mad: I actually signed up for my account to respond to this one.

There is big money in the diabetes business. You'll hear of a lot of diabetes supply companies on television, and you'll mysteriously receive ads in the mail for them, too. Most will assume Medicare/Medicaid. Kickbacks involve large sums of money, so it's possible that this "company" has connections with whoever was in contact with your daughter.

Smaller chains actually obtain their test strips from eBay (from people who had their strips paid for by insurance, and hence, they buy them for less than wholesale costs) and will then sell them to you. Don't use them!

Now, here's the next part that I'm serious about responding, as I've had HIPAA training in the line of work that I have done; this doesn't make me an expert, but it does make me aware that someone has broken the law.

Did this guy calling you admit to receiving information from the hospital? If so, you have a big case in your hands -- or at least, something to make a formal complaint about with hte hospital. HIPAA laws are in place to require privacy in health matters.

HIPAA is so strict, in fact, that it makes it unlawful for a doctor's office to leave a message on an answering machine to indicate the time/date of an appointment -- without the express written permission of the patient!

If you're in the United States, a law has clearly been broken by the process of someone revealing to an outside source (that is *not* involved in your daughter's immediate care) that she has diabetes.

You will need to take this up with the hospital administration. They are very well aware of the HIPAA violations, and will likely have sweaty palms. I do not recall the exact penalties placed upon a hospital for HIPAA violations, but it is a minimum of a five-figure fine. I've seen this violated for patients in the computer world, and hospitals have been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If you can actually get this guy to admit that he received information from someone who works at the hospital, then you've even got a legal case on your hands for some big money.

But at the very least, the hospital needs to be aware that an insider is "selling" information to outsiders, and it needs to be stopped.

If a doctor or nurse is giving out this information, it's 100% grounds for dismissal, unless you live in a small area where doctors/nurses are hard to come by...:mad:

[JasonJayhawk]

I never heard of them. I would prefer to buy all our diabetes supplies locally but we are forced to use Medco Health :-(. It's been a frustrating experience for years.

You too??????!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had them with a program called Lumenos. I didn't think they were that bad..... until they shipped my insulin to the wrong address twice, and then attempted to re-route it to me (after UPS had failed the delivery on a Friday and it sat in a hot truck all weekend long).

I refused the shipment, and then told them that I was planning on just getting the insulin from the local pharmacy. The rep told me, "That's fine... have your pharmacist call ours."

I did that.... three hours later of waiting in the pharmacy, they still hadn't resolved it. The Medco pharmacist basically said that they were going to be shipping my new insulin out in 3-5 days, and that I should wait until it arrives.

In my own defense, at that time, I was going to be out of insulin in 2 days -- I had not realized I should ask my doctor for extra amounts of insulin, and had not anticipated a 2 week delay on getting my insulin. I thought two weeks' worth of spare insulin would be enough...

Well, to make a very long story shorter, basically, they refused to transfer the Rx over to my pharmacy. They were rude about it, too -- the Medco people were sarcastic when I said, "I'm type 1 -- I'll die without insulin, as it keeps me alive." (They kept telling me that I should be able to be okay without it for a while, thinking I was just a cranky type 2 or something, which even then was wrong!). The rep repeated my words in a very sarcastic tone. I was angry that one rep told me it would be okay to transfer the Rx.

Medco WOULD NOT allow transfer of my insulin refill, PERIOD!

Six hours later (1 AM on a Saturday morning -- this started on a Friday evening when I came home from work), the local pharmacy gave me a vial of Novolog and said they'd call my doctor on the following Monday to get the prescription. (They trusted me...).

I received numerous phone calls from Medco administrators apologizing for the difficulty. I always told them I'd be writing formal complaint letters (and was given an address in Texas to write to) -- but luckily, I left the company that I was with, so my insurance with them is no longer.

I've never had such a terrible time dealing with any human in my life with Medco. They must be making good money, though. Not many people can make a ton of money by being helpful and nice.

So, have you had problems with Medco relating to insulin shipments?

[My_Dana]

Wow!

Thanks for the headsup here.

I think I know who gave out the information on Dana.

I will track it down and find out for sure.

Amazing what you can learn from others..

Dana's Dad, Ed

[JasonJayhawk]

Wow!

Thanks for the headsup here.


No problem. After all the HIPAA training I went through, I couldn't resist responding.

[kates mom]

I have used ccs medical supply company for my daughters insulin pump supplies and have had good results. I do purchase my insulin at a local pharmacy. If I have ever had any questions or needed additional pump supplies they were great about taking care of this. We us a metronic pump and were referred by them to ccs.

[CAGrandma]

Just a note for clarification purposes - there is another CCS here in California that just might be calling newly diagnosed kids' families and I'd hate to have anyone confuse that CCS with the supply company. I think it stands for California Children's Services, but that CCS is the wonderful service that covers all diabetes supplies and offers great support to families at no cost. They pick up where insurance ends. If you are in CA you definately want to find out if your child is eligible for CCS (I think there are income tests).

[susanH]

i have been using CCS medical for years with no problems. when we trained on the new paradigm, they sent the CDE to my home for the training; she was excellent. CCS will autoship all of his pump supplies (infusion sets and resevoirs and IV prep) along with his testing strips, testing devices, batteries for pump, etc) every quarter. they bill my insurance and then i get the balance in a bill sometime later.

i also use medco for prescription meds and altho CCS wanted to ship the insulin with his stuff, the insurance company would not authorize me to get "prescriptions" from anyone else but medco. medco hasn't been that difficult to work with, they just are not as reasonable as CCS. i can get insulin from a local pharmacy but my copay is very high if i do.

i have had a positive experience with CCS.

[JustMe]

A comment on Diabetic patients, my aunt and my cousin has diabetes and still in treatment for it.
A comment on CCS, I work at CCS Medical located in Florida though I am from Houston. I know alot of people doesn't know about the company but it's a great company that supplies not just diabetic patients but also to patients that has chronic problems. Our company supplies respiratory, insulin, diabetic supplies, prescriptions and alot more. It's a great company if you will try it. It does bills to your regular insurance and it's very convenient to most patients. As our company has other location throughout the nation.
As you've seen some comments posted here by some peoople who is using CCS Medical, it's a great testimonial for the company and I'd like to thank to all those who tried and is using our company for their supply.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

I have this guy calling us after a week that our girl was dx'd from a supply company called CCS Medical. (www.ccsmed.com).

Anyone use them?
They seem to be just a middleman in the Rx presrciption supply chain.
Not sure how they make their money.

The hospital gave this guy all of our medical details which they are not supposed to.

Thanks,
Dana's dad, Ed


I'd be in that hospital's administrations office first thing tomorrow morning demanding to know who and why they gave out your daughters information.. it may be the CCS is a wonderful company, or it could be someone trying to scam you.. in either case, the hospital has absolutely NO RIGHT to give out yours or anyone else's information..

[sam1nat2]

I would be upset if someone gave out my info without my permission.

We are using ccs medical with great results. I got their name from a PA friend who met the rep.
The only complaint I have is that they will call and leave a message saying to call them and they will not take your call on a weekend.
They have been great about shipping out supplies if needed at the last minute, they have even overnighted pump supplies when insurance wouldn't pay until the next week.

[Momof4gr8kids]

A comment on Diabetic patients, my aunt and my cousin has diabetes and still in treatment for it.
A comment on CCS, I work at CCS Medical located in Florida though I am from Houston. I know alot of people doesn't know about the company but it's a great company that supplies not just diabetic patients but also to patients that has chronic problems. Our company supplies respiratory, insulin, diabetic supplies, prescriptions and alot more. It's a great company if you will try it. It does bills to your regular insurance and it's very convenient to most patients. As our company has other location throughout the nation.
As you've seen some comments posted here by some peoople who is using CCS Medical, it's a great testimonial for the company and I'd like to thank to all those who tried and is using our company for their supply.

What is up with this???? Are you advertising your company here? That's not cool at all!!!!

[MLH]

We used CCS for our pump supplies for years. I had to. It was who was contracted with my insurance company to send me supplies. I never had a problem.

Jason,

I have a HIPPA related ? for you. Whenever they would send me my supplies, they would send a POSTCARD with my daughter's name/address and all the supplies they just sent to me listed on it. They wanted me to send it back as confirmation that I received the package. I called them and had a fit. I told them with the HIPPA laws, I couldn't understand how they could ask me to send a postcard through the mail with my daughters identifying info. acct # and insulin supplies on it through the mail. They had someone get back to me who said it was OK. I told them I would not be doing it. If they wanted to know if I received the supplies they would have to call me. Of course they never did.

I'm just curious if there are any regulations about this.
Thanks for your input.

PS I now get my pump supplies directly from Medtronic.

Michele mom of
AGH 9, dx'd 5, pumper and
LMH 7 nonD

[JasonJayhawk]

I have a HIPPA related ? for you.

Hi Michele,

I don't find it surprising that this company is not familiar with HIPAA laws (after the referral spam I've received from their advertisers, I really lost trust in this company). Some companies do not view HIPAA as important because one or more of the following: cost of upgrading software; cost of training employees; cost of assigning someone as the HIPAA compliance manager; and resistance to changing the company culture.

Back in 1996, when HIPAA was signed into law, it provided companies until 2003 (October 13, 2003 -- the date HIPAA managers won't forget!) for which seven years would be given to allow them to become compliant.

If your adventure with CSS was before 2003, I can understand their lack of privacy. However, if it was after 2003, they are treading on thin water with privacy. You see, they can argue that it is you, the customer, that had the responsibility of not sending private medical information through the mail system (such as a postcard). (Since you prevented it from happening, you did the right thing.) :rolleyes: Basically, you can break the privacy rules, but they can't.

However, had they sent you a post card (with nothing hiding it) and it was delivered to your neighbor, or a stranger across the street, or was taken out by an "ex-family member", they would be responsible for sharing that information with a third party, and would be legally liable.

You can share your child's medical information with the world (as the legal guardian); however, it doesn't go the other way. They can only share it with you and the authorized parties (insurance company, doctor's office, 3rd party biller, etc.).

You must consider if they handle your medical information as though it is public information, then what are their data retention and data security methods at their office? They unlikely have a strict policy if they handled your situation as sloppily as you reported. :mad::mad:

CSS could start with this document from the HHS:
http://cms.hhs.gov/EducationMaterials/Downloads/HIPAAChecklist.pdf

Companies like CSS may think they are "off the radar" for HIPAA compliance, but sometimes small companies do a better job than the large ones at keeping medical information private.

What is even worse is that if you did not receive a HIPAA "Notification of Rights" form from CSS (and sign it and return it), it could mean that they sell your information to third-world countries.

I advise people to steer away from these companies. They're in the business to make money, not save it (unlike your insurance company's designated mail-order companies, if they have them). Everyone can do their part in keeping medical and insurance costs down by selecting companies that work closely with the insurance provider. (A lot of those companies are "in bed" together, so to speak...) I could go on and on about how this works... :cwds:

[jondiego]

I work for a mail order diabetes supply company and we have Dr's, CDE's, and Insurance companies that refer patients to us all the time. They only give us the patients name and phone number, (THEY CAN NOT AND SHOULD NOT GIVE OUT ANY OTHER INFO, THE DOCTORS OFFICE WOULD BE THE ONE VIOLATING HIPPA REGULATIONS). We then call them and go from there, as well as patients that call us and say that their Dr, CDE, or Insurance company referred them to us. Everyone that works for us must undergo HIPAA training and pass an exam. We are a nationally accredited mail order pharmacy.

CAGrandma- makes a good point. There is an Insurance called CCS Medi-Cal which we accept, they are great and cover supplies for children. We have many Dr's, CDE's and Nurse's that refer patients to us because we are one of a few mail order pharmacy's that accept CCS Medi-Cal Insurance. If you have any questions, feel free to comment here or PM me for contact info.

Hope this helps the confusion and if you have any questions about HIPAA or mail order diabetes supplies, please don't hesitate to contact me and I will answer as soon as I can.

-JonDiego

[skimom]

Medco WOULD NOT allow transfer of my insulin refill, PERIOD!

Six hours later (1 AM on a Saturday morning -- this started on a Friday evening when I came home from work), the local pharmacy gave me a vial of Novolog and said they'd call my doctor on the following Monday to get the prescription. (They trusted me...).

What .bugs me about the above quote is two things:
1) The prescription belongs to the patient, not the pharmacy
2) Here in CAnada, Insulin is over the counter (you have to ask the pharmacist) Obviously they might ask few questions but it is legally in place so that no one is ever put in the situation of being without insulin

I find it interesting that Sir Frederick Banting sold the patent for insulin for $1 so no one would ever have to do without or worry they couldn't afford it.
I am so disgusted with pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies....

[sevirginia]

I read thru the email string about CCS Medical. I just cancelled my CCS Medical account. I have had some difficulties with them about my diabetic supplies.

I'll be ordering my supplies from another company.

I hope other folks have better luck than I had.

I spoke a friend of mine, who is also diabetic, and she had the similar troubles so at least I'm not the only one.

[spamwitch]

Just FYI, I do not think there are any violations to speak of. Check your hospital consent forms and your insurance forms. You will find a release to share information with interested parties. If a doctor ordered medical supplies to be delivered to your home a diagnosis must be released to the supply comany for insurance billing.

CCS Medical is a Healthcare Professional whom you have through a string of paperwork authorized release of medical information to.

[Stacey Nagel]

I have this guy calling us after a week that our girl was dx'd from a supply company called CCS Medical. (www.ccsmed.com) (http://www.ccsmed.com)).

Anyone use them?
They seem to be just a middleman in the Rx presrciption supply chain.
Not sure how they make their money.

The hospital gave this guy all of our medical details which they are not supposed to.

Thanks,
Dana's dad, Ed

They've been calling me too.. like 5x in tha last month.. telling me that I'd have no copay or deductible if I order Jesse's supplies from them. I asked where they got my # from and they told me that they are working with my ins company and that they gave it to them.
So, I called my ins comapany and they aid that they'd never give out a clients # due to HIPPA regulations. and that CCS must have gotten our name from a mailing list. But, they did tell me that CCS is a medical supply that is approved for use by GHI( our ins) .
We've been using Edgepark surgical supply for the last 4 years.. and its taken me 4 years to get them to get it right, so why should I change???

[taterbug]

After 8 years of service I had to leave. I worked at CCS Medical for 4 years after they bought out the company I was working for and had been for 4 years. CCS has no heart or soul. You are just another number to them. I had so many complaint calls that I just had enough. Big companies like this do not care about the little people who got them where they are today. In just 12 years CCS medical went from a small pioneering company to a $400 million . That is a scary thought. Trust me when I tell you that your insurance had nothing to do with them calling you. No insurance company will give anyone other than you companies that are in your network. They make many promises that are never kept. They put large quotas on their outside sales force to get your business. I hate they way the dance around your questions and give you BS on how they got your information. Let me ask you this, how many places have you ever gotten medical service that they did not bill your insurance for you? They advertise that you would have no insurance claims to file. I have always had the medical compnies bill for me and receive a bill for my co-pay. Big is not always better. I wonder how many HIPPA regulations they violated to be at $400 million. Just check out their website. I didn't come up with this figure on my own. They advertise it.

[T1Spouse&Proud]

After 8 years of service I had to leave. I worked at CCS Medical for 4 years after they bought out the company I was working for and had been for 4 years. CCS has no heart or soul. You are just another number to them. I had so many complaint calls that I just had enough. Big companies like this do not care about the little people who got them where they are today. In just 12 years CCS medical went from a small pioneering company to a $400 million . That is a scary thought. Trust me when I tell you that your insurance had nothing to do with them calling you. No insurance company will give anyone other than you companies that are in your network. They make many promises that are never kept. They put large quotas on their outside sales force to get your business. I hate they way the dance around your questions and give you BS on how they got your information. Let me ask you this, how many places have you ever gotten medical service that they did not bill your insurance for you? They advertise that you would have no insurance claims to file. I have always had the medical compnies bill for me and receive a bill for my co-pay. Big is not always better. I wonder how many HIPPA regulations they violated to be at $400 million. Just check out their website. I didn't come up with this figure on my own. They advertise it.


That sounds like a very crazy work life, I also work for a Home Delivery company for DME and I personal started the diabetic supply department, I know the only way we get info is from the Dr office, by which we have a contract with the medical group themselves (not through the insurance!). Any company calling you and saying the got your info from the Ins is crap and looking for money only, these scams against medicare and all have been so bad over the last 5 years it's crazy. So make sure your Dr/Medical Group specifically gave the Rx to the company who is calling you. Good luck to everyone, it's companies like this who made me want to try and change the way diabetics are treated.

[valerie k]

I get all my dads strips and stuff from them. Its a great company to work with, very helpfull. I do not however, trust anybody to mail order insulin, so medications come from the local pharmacy, and I know they are kept properly at all times.

[THE SARGE]

I have delt with CCS MEDICAL for over 10 years and have had NO PROBLEM with them or any of their staff. I recieve all of my pump supplies from them at a better dicount than at my local D.S.C. and as far as invasion of privacy you might want to look at how you signed for release of info for your insurance comany forms.

[rebass]

I like another registered to post to this thread.

I was referred to them by my doctor. I was told as I under my conditions they would write off my medicare co-pay. I talked with them about it and the needed me to sign a form. They seemed to forget it.

Later I got an invoice and my co pay was more than i could purchase it locally at at counter prices.

Elmo

ps: due to patient complaints my doctor no longer recommends them.

[peytonsmom]

Hi,

I had CCS Medical for supplies and loved them, I was so sad when I switched insurance and I couldnt use them anymore, they were wonderful! I also liked them because I could get everything from them (one stop shopping)! Now I have to get batteries, skin prep, and alcohol wipes on my own, insulin from Medco (yuck cant stand them!) and pump supplies directly through Medtronics, its a a pain...so if you can use them, they are actually really good. I agree though, I was a bit taken back when they started calling me right after my son's diagnosis. I think Childrens in Pittsburgh gives them all of our information!:cwds:


-becky