VA Southeast Network (VISN 7)

Issue: Veteran A presented to the Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) Privacy Officer explaining he received an appointment reminder for himself, but the envelope also contained an appointment reminder for Veteran B. The appointment reminder contained the full name and address…

Outcome: Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) Privacy Officer (PO) contacted the service and requested the Administrative Officer (AO) of the service to determine the responsible clerk(s) and require him/her to re-take the HIPAA/Privacy Training and provide certification of completion to the…

Issue: The Administrative Officer for Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) Mental Health Unit notified the BVAMC Privacy Officer (PO) that a clerk in the Mental Health unit provided Veteran A patient with the appointment listing for Veteran B. The appointment listing…

Outcome: Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) Privacy Officer (PO) contacted the service and requested the service to advise the clerk who inadvertently provided the wrong appointment listing that he/she is required to immediately re-take the HIPAA/Privacy training and provide certification of…

Issue: Progress note mailed regarding Pap Smear results to the wrong patient. The results stated patient had a sexually transmitted condition. Update: 04/23/13:One Veteran will be sent a letter offering credit protection services, due to full name, full SSN being disclosed.06/10/13:This…

Outcome: Although the Nurse Manager has an opinion as to who committed the error, no one has admitted to the mistake, and there is no viable way of determining who placed the information in the wrong envelope and mailed it out.…

Issue: A Veteran began running a high fever and when the spouse tried to locate a telephone number or contact person to describe symptoms she discovered a list attached at the back of paperwork given when Veteran sent home. Update: 04/22/13:Due…

Outcome: Privacy Officer (PO) sent memorandum to Associate Director, PT/Nursing Service detailing that Operating Room Schedule was attached to discharge instructions given to patient and his spouse. PO waiting for the Associate Director of Nursing to determine the nurse who provided…

Issue: Incident Summary: Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) Research Compliance Officer (RCO) was notified by BVAMC RN, Research Coordinator, that a consult form and imaging of a BVAMC patient was released to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) without proper…

Outcome: The Research Principal Investigator (PI) at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) was made aware of this incident. The Surgical resident at the Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) has been re-educated on the importance of protecting PHI, instructed not…

Issue: A copy of a VA employee's Completed Proficiency Report dated and signed March 3/25/2013 was discovered by another staff member was left unsecured next to a fax machine for a week. Per the employee, "available for everyone to see." The…

Outcome: The Credit Monitoring Letter has been mailed to the individual effected by this event. Re-education has been provided to the staff regarding the handling of sensitive documents.The Privacy Officer is requesting that the ticket be closed.…

Issue: On 03/27/13, the Privacy Officer (PO) was notified by a VA employee that a Release of Information (ROI) clerk received a call from a Veteran stating that when he opened a letter sent to him from the facility, he discovered…

Outcome: The HIPAA Notification Letter has been mailed to the veteran effected by this event.Education has been provided to the staff regarding appropriate methods for handling and securing the veteran/patient's sensitive information by the immediate supervisor.Note: The letter sent in error…

Issue: Three (3) Veteran/employee medical records are missing. The employees previously submitted a request for a copy of their medical records, and the volumes could not be located. The Health Information Management (HIM) department has been searched by the supervisory staff.…

Outcome: Records unable to be located. The likelihood of the records being removed from the facility is low, but this cannot be confirmed. The records would have been used by the medical center staff only, and not accessed by patients or…

Issue: A Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) Mental Health physician reported to the BVAMC Chief, Mental Health, that a black folder containing last names of some patients, last four digits of their social security number, and some scribbled notes had been…

Outcome: BVAMC PO met with the physician who misplaced the folder to discuss the list of patients whose information was at risk. Physician stated she mistakenly stated the date of the incident was 2/15/2013, which in fact it was 3/15/2013. The…

Issue: A Veteran mailed another Veteran their claim form for travel allowance which Veteran A received in mail with their own form. Veteran a mailed a copy of their letter to Veteran B and a copy of the claim form to…

Outcome: Documents were retrieved. Supervisor has re-educated staff to proper procedures on processing veteran correspondence and two-person verification process.…