South Central VA Health Care Network (VISN 16)

Issue: Employee, from West LA VA, called clinic on 11/08/12 to report someone in the LA Clinic has been using the name and Social Security number of a Veteran who lives in Fort Smith. Patient was contacted by West LA employee…

Outcome: Credit monitoring letter sent to Veteran and patient record was marked sensitive.

Issue: Veteran B called the Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) staff and complained that Veteran A had called him and said that he had recieved his medical records in the mail and would meet him at the VA to give…

Outcome: Asst Chief HIMS will remind ROI staff to diligently check all information sent out through the mail from ROI department.

Issue: I just got a confirmed report that one of the Patient Service Assistant (PSA), from one of the teams posted a photo she took of a patient with his buttocks exposed on her Facebook account with a saying that this…

Outcome: Employee resigned effective immediately.

Issue: The following information was sent to one Veteran: four other Veterans lab result letters containing full name, address and lab results; one Veteran's doctor order with full name and full SSN. Update: 11/01/12:The four Veterans whose protected health information (PHI)…

Outcome: Educated and retrained staff on ensuring that mail outs were double checked before sealing envelope.

Issue: A VA Provider was concerned that coworkers entered their electronic medical record. A review of access confirmed 17 instances of unauthorized entries by 11 individuals. Update: 10/31/12:The provider will be sent a letter offering credit protection services due to full…

Outcome: Those found in violation will be receiving appropriate reprimand from leadership. Also will complete training on "Appropriately Entering Employee Records."

Issue: On 10/29/2012 the Records Center and Vault (RC&V) received a package from Biloxi VAMC. The package was shipped via United States Postal Service (USPS) and contained two files on one Veteran. The packaging was damaged during shipment. USPS placed the…

Outcome: VA Gulf Coast modified the medical records mail out process from the United States Postal Service certified mail to UPS.

Issue: A PSA received a phone call from Veteran A stating that he had received Veteran B's appointment letter in with his. He called to report the incident and to state that he shredded the letter but he wanted to make…

Outcome: Employee has been counseled regarding privacy issue.

Issue: Veteran A alleges his emergency contact information was looked up by the facility Patient Advocate. The Advocate called his wife at work and told her boss about a prosthetic device, medical information, and future clinic appointment. Update: 10/12/12:Veteran A will…

Outcome: No violation found.

Issue: An appointment schedule for Dental Clinic was found in the hallway floor by the Privacy Officer (PO) in front of the Nuclear Medicine department. The list had Patient full names, social security numbers, phone numbers, and patient age. Update: 11/01/12:Seven…

Outcome: Staff has been reminded and urged to use electronic computer list to avoid other issues of this type.…

Issue: The Thoracic Oncology Conference was held on 10/02/12 in a VA conference room. Someone left a list of the patients that were discussed during the conference in the conference room. It contained two (2) Veterans' information. It included name, age,…

Outcome: Chief of Medicine services educated attendees on the importance of protecting Veterans privacy. He will ensure all forms are collected and/or shredded as appropriate after each meeting.…