Rocky Mountain Network (VISN 19)

Issue: A Medical Support Assistant (MSA) in a Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) was accessing her husband's Mental Health records. Update: 04/16/12:The husband will receive a letter of notification.…

Outcome: 12/2/2011 Former Privacy Officer verified Privacy & Information Security Awareness & Rules of Behavior training completed 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011Privacy & HIPAA Training 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011; MT Auditory Privacy Brief 20094/17/12 Recommended supervisor to review Privacy Fact Sheet for…

Issue: An employee coming to work, found a patient's lab label in a public hallway. It contained the patient's full name, full SSN and date of birth. Update: 04/12/12:One Patient will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.…

Outcome: The employee was given a verbal counseling about the incident and reminded of the importance of protecting our veterans privacy rights - there was a new process initiated by the Chief of Laboratory services - the employee's were instructed to…

Issue: An aide to a Montana Senator called stating that he had talked to a Veteran's wife and she was upset that VA was planning to transfer the Veteran to a Nursing Home. Update: 04/16/12:The Veteran will be sent a notification…

Outcome: Chief of Staff requested all VHA MT staff be reminded they need a release of information to discuss patient care issues. VA MT Director sent an email to all VHA staff about releasing patient information to an elected official, is…

Issue: One page of the VA Form 10-1158 (Doctors Orders) out of an electronic medical record was found in the hall by the first floor elevators at the Denver VAMC. The information was found and turned in by a Veteran within…

Outcome: The information was discovered within thirty minutes from when the document was created. Education has been provided to the employee and security measures are in place to prevent this issue from happening in the future.…

Issue: Two medication labels were stuck together and were sent to Veteran A. Veteran B's medication label information was attached. Update: 04/03/12:Veteran B will be sent a notification letter due to protected health information being exposed.…

Outcome: Better checks (QA) are being completed with the thickness of the instruction sheets.

Issue: A box of patient records was found unsecured in an unused outbuilding on the medical center campus. Update: 04/03/12: The Privacy Officer (PO) is determining the exact number of records, and where they might have come from. 04/11/12: The Data…

Outcome: The Information Security Officer (ISO) interviewed the Veteran who found these records and with his provider. The Veteran first discovered them on 04/02/12 after hours, but waited until lunch time the next day to report them to his provider. He…

Issue: Four Veterans' information was mailed to another Veteran. Update: 04/03/12:All four Veterans will be sent letters offering credit protection services, as their full SSN's and dates of birth were disclosed.…

Outcome: 4-5-12 - Employee was issued a written counseling letter from their Supervisor and reminded to be very diligent about checking mailings to ensure that other Veterans information is not included in the envelope.

Issue: VA Employee A reports that he/she was given VA Employee B's Personal Identifiable Information (PII) at the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card badging office at the Denver VAMC. The employee discovered that the fingerprint scan card was not his/her scan…

Outcome: Provided training to employee on properly safeguarding personal identifying information.

Issue: Veteran A's medication list was inadvertantly handed to Veteran B during the check in. Veteran A checked the list in the presence of the check-in clerk, realized it wasn't his and handed it back to her. The clerk then disposed…

Outcome: Employee was provided re-training in the check in process and cautioned about double checking to make sure she has the right patient before handing out the medication list.

Issue: At a training session for about 20 - 25 facility Supervisor-Managers concerning labor relations and employee relations, a handout concerning the Douglas Factors was given to all in attendance. The handout contained a VA Employee's name and what appears to…

Outcome: The Chief of Human Resources has spoken to the employee who presented the training and they will get a list of all the attendees and retrieve the handout or verify that it has been destroyed. All of the handouts were…