VA Southwest Health Care Network (VISN 18)

Issue: A clerk mailed Veteran A an authorization form with Veteran B's information on it. The data has been secured. Update: 05/24/13:Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services, as his date of birth was included on the…

Outcome: NA

Issue: On 04/24/13, the Pharmacy supervisor reported that Veteran B received one insulin medication for Veteran A in addition to receipt of his/her own insulin medication. Veteran A notified the clinic that they had not received their prescription, who notified the…

Outcome: Supervisor reports that because of prior actions in this area, new policies had been put in place. This was brought to the employee's awareness. HR involvement for appropriate actions.

Issue: Employee mismailed information to Veteran A. The information contained Veteran B last four of SSN, first and last name, year of birth address, and diagnosis. The data was recovered. Update: 04/16/13:Veteran B will be sent a notification letter.…

Outcome: Education and training to staff and process changed.

Issue: Veteran received letter from the VA which exposed his diagnosis in the envelope window. Update: 04/12/13:The Veteran will be sent a HIPAA notification letter.…

Outcome: NA

Issue: Today , 04/10/13, a nurse manager reports that personal health information (PHI) of a staff clinician was known by another clinicians Veterans. This was discovered while recently covering Veteran encounters. The employee had previously suffered a significant health concern in…

Outcome: NA

Issue: Employee disclosed PHI to the Public Defender Office without Veteran authority or court order. The information disclosed included the Veteran's name, full SSN and PHI. Update: 04/09/13:The Veteran w9ill receive a letter offering credit protection services.…

Outcome: Proposed termination of employee.

Issue: Veteran A and Veteran B had labs drawn on the same day and their results were mailed to each other. Update: 04/02/13:Both Veteran A and Veteran B will be sent letters offering credit protection services due to full name and…

Outcome: Supervisor has counseled employee.

Issue: Today, 04/01/13, the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) Coordinator reports that a psychologist lost a folder containing documents for one Veteran on Thursday, 03/28/2013. The physician, who was making a first-time home visit then, placed Veteran documents on the hood…

Outcome: Recovery of documents alleged. Duplication of documents provided to PO. Education and counseling provided to staff by supervisor - no hard copy PHI is permitted to be taken off campus by this provider or role. Credit monitor offer signed by…

Issue: While the VA Police were completing rounds, they saw a desk sitting outside of the warehouse that was turned in. The staff member apparently forgot to empty out the desk drawer, which contained 3 papers. The papers were progress notes…

Outcome: Letters have been sent to the Veteran and the Next of Kin of the Veteran, requesting this ticket to be closed. Privacy Officer spoke with the Chief of Warehouse and they now have a process in place for securing furniture…

Issue: Today, 3/26/2013, the Privacy Officer (PO) was notified by a Service Chief that an employee in their department had accessed a recently deceased employee's chart without authorization. A report of staff access had been previously provided to Senior Management who…

Outcome: NA