VA Health Care Upstate New York (VISN 2)

Issue: VA Western New York Program Support Assistant accessed the sensitive electronic medical record of 2 VA western New York employees without authorized access to do so. Update: 11/13/12:The two (2) Veteran/employees will be sent general notification letters due to name…

Outcome: Letters sent, staff educated.

Issue: A request for information was received with an authorization form attached. However, the authorization form specifically states that the patient DID NOT wish to have information regarding drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, AIDS or HIV, STDs, tuberculosis or genetics…

Outcome: Education provided by Privacy Officer and Supervisor.

Issue: A request was received from Kinship Family and Youth Services for a discharge summary and TB test results. An authorization was received with the request, however, the authorization provided does not give express written permission for the release of any…

Outcome: Education provided by Privacy Officer and Supervisor.

Issue: It was brought to the attention of the Privacy Officer (PO) that during an appointment with a patient, a Social Worker discussed the cancellation of an upcoming group meeting. The Social Worker mentioned that he would have to contact all…

Outcome: Employee was re-educated by the Privacy Officer and his supervisor. Mandatory privacy training (which was current) was taken again. Appropriate disciplinary actions were taken by Human Resources and the Supervisor.…

Issue: A Veteran found medical papers on three Veterans in a conference room and gave to a nurse. Contains three Veteran's information, for two Veterans, full SSN and medication orders and for one Veteran full SSN, DOB, Medication Orders, EKG and…

Outcome: Letters mailed. Unable to determine what staff left papers.

Issue: HR mailed employee back thier W2, application for child care reimbursement, child's birth certificate and other financial papers in an unsecured envelope. Update: 11/05/12:One employee will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.…

Outcome: The appropriate discipline was taken by the HR staff who mailed the items and the entire department was educated on sensitive information and mailing of such.

Issue: A Business Office employee, who is also a patient, reported to her supervisor that she felt someone she knew who worked at the VA may have accessed her medical record. The employee had been sent to the emergency department for…

Outcome: Nurse Manager on 6 South discussed the inappropriate access with the employee and reiterated that he cannot access an employee or patient's medical record outside a need to know to do his job. The employee confirmed understanding of this and…

Issue: A plumber found a prosthetic leg in a front loader to be placed in a dumpster. he noted that it had a label on it with a name and SSN. The leg was immediately secured in a bag and locked…

Outcome: Details staff educated on varifying that no identifiers are on items before disposing.…

Issue: Veteran A received letter from Release Point in regards to his medical records from private provider. When he called them back they stated they were gathering medical records for his insurance policy. They stated they already had his VA records.…

Outcome: Unable to determine who released records if VHA or VBA. Continue to research.

Issue: During a Release of Information (ROI) audit it was noted that ROI released a medical record without valid authorization for 7332 protected diagnosis/condition. Update: 12/12/12:The Veteran will receive a letter of notification.…

Outcome: HIMS Staff educated. Appropriate discipline.