South Texas Veterans Health Care System

Issue: On September 15, 2014, a Veterans Health Administration New Federal Rule of Hydrocodone Combination Products information letter were mailed to approximately 4,000 Veterans. On September 17, 2014, the Privacy Office was notified the letters mailed were printed double-sided, which means…

Outcome: 09/18/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that 4000 Veterans will be sent HIPAA notification letters due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being potentially disclosed. 10/07/14: The letters were mailed on October 3, 2014. The press release is scheduled…

Issue: A Resident/Provider decided to hand carry medical records to an offsite location,. The documents were in his car when it was stolen (not on VA property). Surgery Service is in the process of obtaining the names of the individuals and…

Outcome: 09/04/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that five Veterans will be sent letters offering credit protection services.…

Issue: The Emergency Department gave paperwork (a medication reconciliation) to the wrong Veteran. The error was caught during the patient identification process at the Pharmacy window and taken from the patient.…

Outcome: 09/04/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.…

Issue: When attempting to have Capitalsolutiondesign assist with technical issues on enrolling mental health patients in the appropriate service, screen shots were taken of the problem and sent to the Contractor. The VA staff member did not realize in the background…

Outcome: 09/04/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that there was a policy violation. While there was an unauthorized access/disclosure of data, it has been determined that the incident has a low probability of a risk of compromise.…

Issue: A research consent form was sent to the wrong subject (patient). The consent form contains full name and full SSN. At this time, the Privacy Officer (PO) does not know if the other subject also received the wrong consent form,…

Outcome: 09/05/14: Only one patient received the wrong consent. The Incident Resolution Service Team determined that the patient will recieve a letter offering credit protection services since the full SSN was compromised.…

Issue: A Veteran contacted his Senator's Office stating a MyHealtheVet (MHV) email was sent from our facility showing all of the Veterans' email addresses the email was sent to. The email was informing the Veterans they have an upcoming appointment and…

Outcome: 08/11/14: The PO confirmed that the original email contained the email addresses by contacting the MHV coordinator and calling one of the recipients of the email. After reviewing the email list, it appears out of 618 total email addresses, only…

Issue: A Resident misplaced a Rehabilitation inpatient list somewhere between the clinics where he was treating patients.

Outcome: 07/27/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that thirty (30) Veterans will be sent HIPAA notification letters.…

Issue: While conducting an audit of sensitive patient access records, the Information Security Officer discovered an employee at another VHA facility accessed her husband's medical record at this facility. The incident has been referred to the Privacy Officer at that employee's…

Outcome: 06/25/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran A will be sent a notification letter.…

Issue: A list was found this morning on VA grounds on the way into an office from the Parking garage. It was found by the Privacy Officer. It is not known how long the document was there. It was not there…

Outcome: 06/25/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that eighteen (18) Veterans will be sent letters offering credit protection services.…

Issue: Employee A received a call from a Veteran at MCA who has been waiting on Medical Records. He received a packet in the mail. When he started reading them, he realized that these were not his records. He will take…

Outcome: 06/23/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services. 07/28/14: the information on the CD was not only X-ray information but also progress notes, which would include full SSN,…