VA Northern Indiana Health Care System

Issue: Veteran A called to say he had received information on Veteran B. The Privacy Officer (PO) mailed him a postage paid envelope to send the information back. The information was a non-VA Care letter and a copy of the Request…

Outcome: 06/10/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a notification letter.…

Issue: During VA Police rounds, the officer found Physical Therapy (PT) appointment lists, a consultation sheet, a packing slip, and a clinical education commitment from outside the PT room on the sign-in table.

Outcome: 06/10/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that there was a policy violation. While there was an unauthorized access/disclosure of data, it has been determined that the incident has a low probability of a risk of compromise.…

Issue: A package was sent to Veteran A and it had paperwork for Veteran B inside. The paperwork had Veteran B's name, address, prescription number and was for gloves (not a medication). The gloves were not in the package. The paperwork…

Outcome: 06/10/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a notification letter.…

Issue: Veteran A was handed Veteran B's medication at the Pharmacy window. The bag had Veteran B's name and address on it. The medication's label in the bag had Veteran B's name, prescription name, dosage, and quantity. Veteran A brought the…

Outcome: 06/10/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that there was a privacy violation. While there was an unauthorized access/disclosure of information, it has been determined that the incident has a low probability of a risk of compromise.…

Issue: Veteran A received a brown bag with Veteran B's name and address. In the bag was a medication for Veteran B. The medication label had Veteran B's name, the name of the medication, and the dosage. Veteran A brought the…

Outcome: 04/22/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed.…

Issue: Veteran A was handed a copy of Veteran B's check-in ticket by the provider along with Veteran A's radiology order. Veteran A checked out and the clerk noticed the check-in ticket did not belong to Veteran A. It is not…

Outcome: 04/22/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed. 04/22/15: Update: Full DoB was disclosed as well. The Incident Resolution Service Team has…

Issue: Veteran A received a drug form for Veteran B from an associate of the contracted Community Based Outpatient clinic (CBOC) attached to Veteran A's prescription. Veteran A gave the two papers to a CVS pharmacist and the pharmacist noticed the…

Outcome: 04/22/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services due to full SSN being disclosed.…

Issue: An inpatient received the daily plan for another inpatient stapled to his daily plan. When he realized it, he let the nurse know. The unit clerk had stapled the two plans together.…

Outcome: 12/08/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Patient B will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed.…

Issue: A VA employee returned from leave and had 3 Earnings and Leave statements in her mailbox. She opened them and thought they didn't look correct so she went to payroll to ask for assistance reading the statements. As soon as…

Outcome: 12/02/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that there was a policy violation. While there was an unauthorized access/disclosure of data, it has been determined that the incident has a low probability of a risk of compromise.…

Issue: Veteran A received some information on Veteran B after a colonoscopy. At this time, unable to determine what the information was.…

Outcome: 11/03/14: Still under investigation. 12/11/14: The information was received from Veteran A who received Veteran B's information. Information on the disclosed pages were the full Veteran name, last four of the SSN, date of the exam and attending physician name,…