VA Mid South Healthcare Network (VISN 9)

Issue: The VA Eligibility Office sent Veteran form 10-10 EZ and in the envelope with that was another Veteran's discharge papers, DD214, Notice of Separation and Application for compensation from the WWII Bonus Fund of the State of Indiana. Veteran brought…

Outcome: Information was given to the employees supervisor for further remediation as necessary. I indicated to the supervisor that training to all staff should be given to remind them of the importance of safeguarding information and making sure that papers are…

Issue: On June 11, 2012 the wife of Veteran A contacted the Privacy Officer (Nashville Campus) to report the following: Veteran A received a copy of his medical records, in the mail, from Release of Information (ROI), Nashville Campus. What the…

Outcome: PO's have confirmed receipt of mismailed records by the Supervisor, ROI. The employee involved with this incident is no longer employed at the VA, so no action can be taken. ROI Supervisor will continue to educate ROI Staff on the…

Issue: Patient As daughter returned Occult Stool sample cards that had been mailed to Patient As residence with Patient Bs name and full social security number printed on the cards. Update: 06/12/12:Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection…

Outcome: Employees reminded to use more caution when handling documents with PII.

Issue: A VA Nursing Secretary reported to an Administrative Assistant that a relative of the secretary asked her to look up a VA Patient who happens to be their mutual relative to find out what was wrong with him. The Secretary…

Outcome: The PO interviewed the Nursing Secretary with regard to accessing her cousin's medical records. She indicated that she did access the records. She stated that no one asked her to do so. She stated that she accessed these records to…

Issue: Release of Information (ROI) employee received an envelope of partial medical records of a patient. There was a sticker on the envelope from the Postal Service that says 'we're sorry that your article was damaged during processing'. The information returned…

Outcome: No fault of the VA.

Issue: An appointment for Patient A was made under Patientt B's profile. An appointment list was printed and given to Patient A. It contained Patient B's name and last four digits of his SSN. Update: 05/30/12:Patient B will be sent a…

Outcome: Employees reminded to be cautious when handling documents with PII.

Issue: The Information Security Officer (ISO) received a complaint from an employee that his privacy was breached by having a .pdf document in an electronic Service folder with his SSN viewable by all of the Office staff. The ISO recommended to…

Outcome: Document removed from Service drive. Employees reminded to use more caution when handling documents with PII.…

Issue: On 05/23/12, the Patient Safety Manager at the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS), received correspondence from Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc. regarding an adverse event report submitted to FDA by their company in response to a call from the Patient Safety…

Outcome: 6/18/12 - Employee received a written counseling. HIPAA notification letter mailed. PO requests closure.

Issue: Veteran A called the medical center and reported that he recently had a medical test performed and when medical center mailed the results of that test, the letter belonged to that of Veteran B, who had the same medical test…

Outcome: This was considered a human error when preparing letters/envelopes to be mailed Education has been provided to the employee involved. Also, PO worked with this area and they will now print letters without the SSN and have changed their template…

Issue: On 05/16/12, the Privacy Officer (PO), Nashville Campus, was notified of the following incident via an anonymous note left outside her door. A Veterans documents were attached to the note.The note indicated documents containing a Veterans personal health information (PHI)…

Outcome: 5/24/12 - Incident due to a human error. First incident for this employee. Employee educated on the importance of safeguarding Veteran PII. CM letter mailed.…