VA Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8)

Issue: Veteran A received a copy of Veteran B's application for benefits. The information (full SSN, DOB, full name) was mismailed by an employee in health administration. Update: 04/26/11:Veteran B will receive a letter offering credit protection services.…

Outcome: All eligibility staff for Bay Pines VAHCS was spoken with on this privacy violation, the staff directly involved was counseled by supervisor and additional education was offered by the Privacy Officers. A credit monitoring letter was provided to the Veteran…

Issue: A VA employee reported a mismailing of Veteran A's exemption notice to Veteran B. Veteran B contacted the employee about the mismailing and also reported that the mismailed document belonging to Veteran A was shredded. The employee reported the exemption…

Outcome: Employee involved asked to double-check all pages before mailing and he retook Privacy and Security training.

Issue: The check-in clerk accidentally included a Joint Injection Clinic appointment list with a patient's medication list as part of the pre-screening process. The error was noticed when a nurse was reviewing the patient's medication sheet and discovered the appointment list…

Outcome: The employee is being counseled by his supervisor with a letter of counseling. Staff is being reminded to be more careful when printing documents from a common printer, and to carefully check what they hand over to patients.…

Issue: An employee reported leaving paperwork in a folder on top of his vehicle and forgot to remove it before driving off. After realizing the error, the employee went back to the location and picked up the paperwork but could not…

Outcome: Corrective action plan includes: completing the required Authorization to Transport and Utilize VA Sensitive Information Outside Protected Environments form, social security number will be blocked out before transporting a copy of the payment voucher, all paperwork that contains VA sensitive…

Issue: Patient B's routing slip was handed to Patient A who was told by a clerk to report to another team. When Patient A appeared at the check-in desk, the check-in clerk discovered the error and recovered the routing slip. The…

Outcome: Employee will be provided a letter of counseling by his supervisor. In addition, staff is being reminded to double-check the identity of ALL patients before handing them any paperwork, even for a little trip to another clinic area.…

Issue: Veteran A received a Medical Care Cost Recovery (MCCR) Account Activity Statement intended for Veteran B. Update: 05/07/11:The statement included Veteran B's name, address and dates of service. Veteran B will receive a letter of notification.…

Outcome: WPB Privacy Officer has left a voice message for the Veteran, to confirm the correct mailing address. The cell phone number has been disconnected. No other personal information, other than visit dates is on the statement. Notification letter has been…

Issue: Veteran A received a copy of Veteran B's Lab Follow Up Note. The information was mis-mailed by a health administration support clerk. Update: 04/07/11:Veteran B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services…

Outcome: Mis-mailed document was retrieved and education was provided to the HAS staff involved in incident. Notification Letter was sent to the Veteran whose information pertained to.…

Issue: Veteran A was given Veteran B's Medication Profile Summary. The summary contained Veteran B's full name, full SSN, date of birth and a list of eight (8) medications. When the employee reported this incident to the Privacy Officer (PO), the…

Outcome: INSERVICE PROVIDED TO THE ENTIRE CLINIC STAFF ON 4/21/11. WELL RECEIVED.…

Issue: Employee B requested a copy of the audit log of who had accessed his medical record. Employee B questioned an inappropriate access and reported it to Office of Inspector General (OIG). OIG completed the investigation and found VA Employee A…

Outcome: Referred for administrative action. Credit monitoring letter mailed to affected employee.…

Issue: A Facility Management Service (FMS) supervisor was performing rounds and discovered unopened and opened bags with patient and employee information in the hallway of the 7A ward. Update: 04/04/11: A quick investigation revealed that the bags were left unattended on…

Outcome: All documents were secured immediately when this was discovered. The employee responsible for this breach has resigned. All service chiefs and nurse managers were informed of the incident and a reinforcement of privacy and information security regulations were communicated to…