VA Illiana Health Care System

Issue: Clerk released a 7332 protected diagnosis on a problem list to a health care facility and to an ambulance service based upon the patient's authorization. Although the patient checked the 7332 box, they did not include an expiration date. When…

Outcome: 10/31/13: The Veteran will receive a HIPAA letter of notification.…

Issue: Nurse documented on patient A in a patient B's chart. The patient viewed the progress note through MyHealtheVet and reported it to a supervisor at the CBOC. The supervisor reported it to the Privacy Officer. The progress note was removed…

Outcome: 09/27/13: Patient A will be sent an offer for credit protection services.…

Issue: A Veteran went to a local emergency room and was diagnosed with shingles. They gave him a prescription. He wanted it filled through the VA so he called to get it. The clinic prepared an approval for emergency script, which…

Outcome: 09/25/13: Veteran B will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed.…

Issue: A VA Illiana Health Care System Mental Health Clinic employee released 38 U.S.C. 7332 protected health information on a Veteran patient to an attorney without proper authorization.

Outcome: 09/17/13: Veteran A will be sent a notification letter.…

Issue: A Non-VA care employee at VAIHCS inadvertently included Veteran B's information in an envelope to Veteran A. Veteran A called VAIHCS to report that he/she had received information that did not belong to him/her. The information that was disclosed included…

Outcome: 08/29/13: Veteran B will receive a HIPAA letter of notification.…

Issue: A ward clerk at VA Illiana Health Care System (VAIHCS) disclosed the inpatient status and diagnosis of a Veteran to another VAIHCS employee.

Outcome: 08/06/13: The employee was walking in the hallway with another employee from IRM. The employee told the IRM employee about the man in the hospital (who is another IRM employee). There is no relationship between any of the 3 people.…

Issue: A VA Illiana employee at the Peoria Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) released 38 U.S.C. 7332 protected health information (PHI) on a Veteran without proper authorization. The information was released to a HIPAA covered entity.…

Outcome: 07/05/13: The Veteran will be sent a notification letter due to 38 U.S.C. 7332 information released without authorization.…

Issue: A VA Illiana employee at the Peoria CBOC released 38 U.S.C. 7332 protected health information on a Veteran without proper authorization.

Outcome: 07/03/13: Due to 7332 information being disclosed, Veteran A will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.…

Issue: A VA Illiana Health Care System employee sent a letter to a Veteran's attorney and disclosed protected 7332 information without proper authorization from the Veteran.

Outcome: 05/24/13: The Veteran will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed. 06/19/13: This was determined to be non-HITECH reportable by VHA Privacy Office.…

Issue: Patient information was supposed to be faxed to a health care facility for patient treatment, but was inadvertently faxed to a business. (The wrong area code was used.) An owner at the business contacted the Privacy Officer immediately to report…

Outcome: 05/03/13: The patient will be sent an offer for credit protection services, as his medical informaiton, and his date of birth were exposed. 05/22/13: This was determined to be HITECH reportable by VHA Privacy Office.…