Tennessee Valley Healthcare System

Issue: A Purchase Order was generated and being routed for signatures to gain approval to purchase drinks for some of the inpatient Residents. At some point, this document was left in a Womens Restroom (Public). A Nurse Manager located the document…

Outcome: 10/11/13: Eight Veterans will be sent letters offering credit protection services.…

Issue: The Nurse Manager, Murfreesboro Campus, notified the Privacy Officer, Murfreesboro Campus, of the following incident: On October 1, 2013, Veteran A was treated at the ER, Murfreesboro Campus. On October 3, 2013, Veteran A had an appointment at the Chattanooga…

Outcome: 10/04/13: Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services, as his full SSN was released.…

Issue: Privacy Officer received a telephone call from Veteran A. Veteran A reported that his Provider was unable to print a document during a recent visit for Veteran A to sign, so the Provider stated he would mail the document to…

Outcome: 09/25/13: Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.…

Issue: In December 2012, a Veteran requested and was provided a copy of a Sensitive Patient Access Report identifying VA employees that had accessed his VISTA/CPRS Record. The Privacy Officer then received 9 pages of that report from the Veteran requesting…

Outcome: 9/16/13 The Privacy Officer is still investigating this complaint. There are about 50 employee accesses the Veteran requested be checked. PO is still in the process of checking those accesses. 9/20/13 The PO is still reviewing SPAR to determine if…

Issue: On August 6, 2013, a Veteran/Employee obtained a copy of a Sensitive Patient Access Report for the period of October 1, 2012 through August 5, 2013. On August 13, 2013, the Veteran/Employee reported to the Privacy Officer (PO), Nashville Campus,…

Outcome: 09/03/13: The Privacy Officer confirmed that one employee's access was not in the performance of his official duties. One employee will be sent a notification letter.…

Issue: On July 3, 2013, Veteran A was given medications belonging to Veteran B at the pick-up window. On August 5, 2013, while at the Nashville Campus for an appointment, Veteran A reported the incident to Pharmacy and returned Veteran Bs…

Outcome: 08/06/13: Veteran B will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed.…

Issue: On 08/01/13, Veteran A called the Administrative Officer of the Day (AOD) to report that earlier in the day he picked up a copy of his medical records from the Release of Information (ROI) Office (ACY Campus), which were provided…

Outcome: 08/02/13: Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services, as his full SSN and other information were on the CD.…

Issue: A Provider, Charlotte Ave CBOC, received an appointment letter in the mail which he believed to be an error. The Provider is an Employee, not a Veteran, and receives all his care outside of the VA. As a result of…

Outcome: 08/09/13: The employee will be sent a notification letter.…

Issue: On July 23, 2013, the Privacy Officers were made aware of this incident: Veteran A was discharged from an inpatient status on 7/15/13. During a routine follow-up telephone call from VA Nursing Telephone Care, it was learned that Veteran A,…

Outcome: 07/23/13: Veteran B will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed.…

Issue: On 07/17/13, a Veteran reported the following incident to the Privacy Officer, Nashville Campus: In May, 2013, Veteran A received a routing slip in the mail from TVHS (York Campus). The routing slip had been mailed in a window envelope.…

Outcome: 07/19/13: Veteran A will receive a letter offering credit protection services.…