VA Mid South Healthcare Network (VISN 9)

Issue: Patient A contacted a VA employee about a document that was given to him. Details are unknown at this time but it is believed to belong to Patient B. The VA will retrieve document tomorrow. Update: 05/05/11:A progress note belonging…

Outcome: Could not identify the individual who caused the error; email was sent to all employees, reminding them of the need for caution when handling documents with PII.

Issue: A VA employee gave beneficiary information to the wrong Veteran. Veteran A left with Veteran B's beneficiary form that was filled out. The information included Veteran B's name, address and full SSN. Update: 04/19/11:Veteran B will receive a letter offering…

Outcome: Employees were reeducated on proper disposition and handling of PHI.

Issue: A nurse had a listing of 20 patients that she was working from. Sometime during the day today, the list disappeared and cannot be located. The list was in a controlled area of the clinic but patients are brought back…

Outcome: Staff reminded of the need for caution when handling documents with PII.

Issue: Patient A was mailed a package of medication that contained Patient B's medications. The package did not include Patient B's SSN or date of birth. Update: 04/11/11:Veteran B will be sent a notification letter.…

Outcome: Employees reminded of the need for caution when handling documents with PII.

Issue: A Louisville VA Veteran patient (Veteran A) called and stated that his results letter from his Primary Care Clinic had been mailed to another Veteran's residence in Ohio. Veteran A could not be located in the system, it is uncertain…

Outcome: I sent an e-mail to the Service Chief, Administrative Assistant, Nurse Manager and the physician. I indicated that re-education to the staff was needed and to let me know once this had been completed. I also indicated that I was…

Issue: On March 22, 2011, Patient A contacted the Privacy Officer (PO), Health Resource Center (HRC), to report he received a billing statement for Patient B. The billing statement contained Patient B's address and name of medication but it was sent…

Outcome: 4/15/11 - HIPAA Notification letter mailed to Veteran. Redacted copy emailed to VAIRCT. 4/18/11: The statement was mailed, on behalf of Nashville VAMC, by the vendor under contract to the VA Corporate Data Center Operations (Austin, Texas) but is based…

Issue: A VA Employee misplaced a letter that contained sensitive information about another employee. The information did not contain SSN, but did contain PHI. An extensive search has been conducted but have been unable to recover the letter. Update: 03/28/11:Employee A…

Outcome: Employee was provided re-education of the importance of protecting personal information. It is unknown who had the sheet with 6 patients on it.…

Issue: A letter was mailed to Patient A that contained information belonging to Patient B. It is believed that a volunteer mistakenly mailed this to the wrong patient. The letter simply stated that the patient did not have any refills on…

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

Issue: Patient A received packet of medication intended for Patient B. The packaging contained the patient's name, address and medication name. Patient A has returned the medication and packaging to the pharmacy. Update: 03/15/11:Patient B will receive a notification letter.…

Outcome: Staff reminded of the need for caution when handling documents with PII.

Issue: Contractor was hired to scan documents into eOPF during summer 2010. Employee recently discovered while accessing eOPF file that another employee's information had also been scanned into her file. Information included approximately 40 documents. Update: 04/14/11:One employee will receive a…

Outcome: The scanning was done in error a while ago. Unable to determine the person that scanned the record into the wrong area. No counseling provided.…