VA Northern Indiana Health Care System

Issue: A Veteran called to say he had not received his medication. The Veteran's address had been changed to a non-existent address. UPS attempted to correct the address and delivered the medication to the wrong street number. Pharmacy is to get…

Outcome: 09/19/13: The Veteran will receive a HIPAA letter of notification.…

Issue: The Fee program received information from an outside provider regarding a Veteran. The Fee program sent a letter to the Veteran but used a wrong address. The Veteran was not registered at our facility. He was registered at four of…

Outcome: 09/19/13: The Veteran will receive a HIPAA letter of notification.…

Issue: Veteran A received his means test letter and a means test letter for Veteran B. The information on the letter was a full name, the last four of the social security number, and a full home address.…

Outcome: 08/19/13: Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.…

Issue: A Release of Information (ROI) clerk released copies of a Veteran's medical records to an insurance company without an authorization from the Veteran.

Outcome: 08/16/13: The Veteran will be sent a notification letter.…

Issue: Copies of medical records were released to an ex-wife of a deceased Veteran. The ex-wife knew the Veteran's full social security number and full name. Other information in the medical records were birth date, medications, lab results, diagnoses, and doctor's…

Outcome: 08/16/13: The Veteran's Next of Kin will be sent a notification letter.…

Issue: Veteran A received his medication sheet and his medication, but also received a medication sheet for Veteran B. The medication sheet had Veteran B's full name, home address, medication number, dosage, and diagnosis.…

Outcome: 08/14/13: Veteran B will receive a HIPAA letter of notification.…

Issue: A Veteran brought an iFOBT kit to the Privacy Officer 8-12-2013. It had been mailed to his home, he received it on Saturday, August 10, 2013. The kit had a label with another Veteran's full name, full social security number,…

Outcome: 08/12/13: Veteran A and B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.…

Issue: Veteran A's medical records were sent by UPS. The records were to be sent to a law firm. The mailing label was incorrect so the records went to Veteran B. Veteran B took the records to the South Bend CBOC.…

Outcome: 07/26/13: Veteran A will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.…

Issue: Veteran A received his appointment letter and Veteran B's appointment letter. Veteran B's letter had his full name, the last four of his social security number, his home address, and the date/time and name of the clinic where he had…

Outcome: Data not available.

Issue: An employee/Veteran requested a sensitive patient access report which showed another employee had accessed his electronic health record. The Privacy Office conducted a thorough investigation and the employee did access the CPRS record inappropriately.…

Outcome: 05/23/13: Employee A will be sent a notification letter. 06/19/13: This was determined to be HITECH reportable by VHA Privacy Office.…