VA Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8)

Issue: A VA employee was investigated by VA Office of Inspector General (OIG), Secret Service, and US Postal Inspection Service for allegedly selling of Veterans' identities. When questioned by the inspectors, the employee admitted to selling over 3,000 VA identities over…

Outcome: The investigation is completed and the letters were mailed on 11/08/11.

Issue: VA employee discovered that her husband was listed for a clinic appointment. She questioned who made the appointment and why, since her husband does not receive treatment at the facility. She questioned the access of her husband's medical record by…

Outcome: The Privacy Officer investigated and found that the employee's co-worker scheduled the appointments. Justification of access has been requested through the Medical Administration Service Supervisor. The appointments will be cancelled, since the Veteran does not seek treatment here. The Supervisor…

Issue: West Palm Beach (WPB) Privacy Officer received notification from a Daytona Beach CBOC that one of their Veterans received information pertaining to a WPB veteran. Update: 10/05/11:One Veteran will be sent a letter of notification.…

Outcome: A meeting was held with the Supervisor and the employee. The severity of the potential of the situation was explained to the employee. The employee is relatively new to this department, and admitted to the human error. He said that…

Issue: Veteran A's medical information was mis-mailed to Veteran B. The medical information was on CD. Veteran A returned the CD to release of information. Update: 10/04/11:Veteran A will be sent a letter offering credit protection services, due to full name…

Outcome: Employee was educated by the Privacy Officer and referred to Human Resources by the supervisor for further action. PO spoke with the supervisor this morning 10/12/11 and the request for action is still pending in Human Resources. The process takes…

Issue: Veteran A requested copy of his medical record in a CD through the Release of Information (ROI) staff. ROI staff does not have CD burning capability, therefore the CD was burned by another HIMS personnel. The CD was given to…

Outcome: a. A credit monitoring letter should be issued to Veteran A because of the unauthorized disclosure to other veteran. (See attachment I)b. Veteran A request should be executed since he did not receive the records. c. Employee A should not…

Issue: In addition to his own appointment letter, Veteran A also received Veteran B's appointment letter in the same envelope. Veteran A notified telephone triage of the mistake who in turn notified the Privacy Officer. The Privacy Officer is attempting to…

Outcome: Pitney -Bowes Contractor notified about machine's propensity to occasionally attach a second letter. Notification letter mailed to Veteran.…

Issue: Patient brought outside mammography films to an outpatient clinic to have them sent to the main hospital through interoffice mail. The radiology clerk remembers sending them, but the films were not received. Films are still missing. The films contain the…

Outcome: The Radiology Department has acquired a new way to track films that are sent via interoffice.

Issue: A VA employee sent another VA employee in another state an email containing full name and full SSN of another employee in error. It is unable to be determined at this time if the message was encrypted. Update: 09/12/11:The employee…

Outcome: Employees supervisor notified and employee counseled.

Issue: Veteran A was given a copy of Veteran B's medical records by the primary care provider during appointment. Veteran A did not realize this until arriving home and reviewing the records. Veteran A returned the records. Update: 09/06/11:Veteran B will…

Outcome: The provider responsible for this inappropriate disclosure has been counseled and provided further education and training by the Privacy Office. Information needs to be thoroughly reviewed prior to releasing to anyone.…

Issue: An enrollment clerk mistakenly enclosed Veteran B's DD214 and 10-10EZ application with a cover letter addressed to Veteran A instructing him to complete the attached 10-10EZ Form and return it to the Enrollment Center. Veteran A subsequently contacted and delivered…

Outcome: Employee cautioned to be more diligent when preparing envelopes for mail outs, and to double-check the contents each time. This appears to have been a momentary lapse in attention. Credit monitoring letter provided to affected Veteran.…