VA Southeast Network (VISN 7)

Issue: Veteran A came in for a follow-up visit with his provider. The provider printed out lab results and discussed them in detail with the patient. The provider also jotted down some diagnoses. Veteran A took the information home and discovered…

Outcome: The manager of the employee counseled the doctor and changes were made in method of printing documents and reviewing lab results to prevent this from happening again.Doctor apologized to the Veteran to whom wrong labs were given and "performed service…

Issue: On 1/31/13, Veteran A presented to the Dorn VA Medical Center Emergency Department (ED) for treatment. Prior to being released, an ED Nurse inadvertently provided Veteran A with a return to work note that was prepared using personal identification information…

Outcome: Staff have been re-educated on the need to safeguard patient information.

Issue: Veteran A presented to the Outpatient Pharmacy on Friday, 02/01/13. He stated that he received Veteran Bs medication through USPS. There were three (3) bags total. Veteran A noted that Veteran Bs address was incorrectly entered as his address. Veteran…

Outcome: Privacy Officer has mailed the HIPAA Notification letter to veteran. Re-education of staff has been provided regarding appropriate methods for handling and securing patient sensitive information by the immediate supervisor.The Privacy Officer is requesting that the ticket be closed.…

Issue: Veteran A picked up his prescription at the VA pharmacy and was called back to ER. The Veteran left the package at the information desk (after talking on the telephone). Another person came to desk and stated he was there…

Outcome: Privacy Officer (PO) cannot blame volunteer who was behind the desk in the from lobby. Veteran left package at the desk after making a telephone call. Veteran called back to the Emergency department. Later someone came to desk stating he…

Issue: The clerk working at the front desk of the Mental Health Clinic at Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) reported to her supervisor that the patient appointment call list was at her work station while she was out to lunch. When…

Outcome: The BVAMC PO mailed credit monitoring letters (one attached) on March 4, 2013, to all 30 patients contained on the list provided by the supervisor of the BVAMC Mental Health Clinic. Employee has been counseled by her supervisor and required…

Issue: Veteran A contacted the Outpatient Pharmacy on Friday, 01/18/13 at approximately 8:35 AM. He stated that he received Veteran Bs medication but did not realize it until after taking five (5) doses. He stated that he noted no issues/side effects…

Outcome: The Notification Letter has been mailed to the Veteran. Education has been provided as well a SOP has been revised as of February 5, 2013.…

Issue: An employee wrote information for Veteran A on the back of paperwork containing information on Veteran B. In addition to giving out name, address, all phone numbers, date of birth, and employer, the paper had insurance information and name and…

Outcome: Privacy Officer (PO) discussed with Supervisor of employee who gave out paperwork containing so much information. The Supervisor was (is) in an acting capacity. This was the first error made by the employee to the Supervisor's knowledge. Supervisor contacted Human…

Issue: Veteran A contacted the Dorn VA Medical Center Hepatology Nurse Manager to notify her of a privacy violation. An unidentified female employee from the Dorn VAMC Hepatology Clinic contacted the Veterans home telephone number and spoke with the Veterans son.…

Outcome: Additional training and process improvements at the service line level have been put into practice to eliminate the re-occurrence of this situation.

Issue: A VA employee reported printouts left on a local printer listed full names, SSNs, and DOB for two veterans printed from another area. Update: 12/21/12:Two (2) Veterans will receive letters offering credit protection services due to full name and full…

Outcome: The IT technician reported that the issue of printing to the wrong printer was resolved.

Issue: It was reported that a Nursing Assistant violated a patients privacy by reviewing the medical record of her neighbors chart. The Privacy Officer (PO)was unable to confirm the date of access of this incident as the Manager was out of…

Outcome: The Service may review disciplinary action with HR once PO has completed the investigation. The employee has been verbally educated to the minimum necessary standard, retaken the Privacy & HIPAA training and forwarded certificates to the PO.…