VA Western New York Healthcare System at Batavia

Issue: The Release of Information (ROI) staff disclosed an attached authorization that had Veteran A's name on it to Veteran B's Power of Attorney (POA).

Outcome: 06/25/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran A will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.…

Issue: A Health Informatics Specialist employee discovered that the first page of a consent had one patient's name and the signature page had a different patient who signed the consent. The provider had requested the note to be retracted. The signature…

Outcome: 06/22/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran A will be sent a notification letter. 06/23/15: The facility is unable to notify patient since the name on the document is illegible.…

Issue: A Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) employee left index cards at a Veteran's Home that had 10 Veterans' personally identifiable information (PII) on them. Upon noticing, the Veteran called HBPC and an HBPC employee went to the home to retrieve…

Outcome: 06/11/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that ten Veterans will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed.…

Issue: Veteran A was given discharge instructions (3 pages) that had two other Veterans' names on it. Veteran A returned the discharge instructions.…

Outcome: 04/08/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that the two Veterans whose information was disclosed will be sent letters offering credit protection services.…

Issue: On routine release of information audit, Alternate PO discovered USC 7332 sensitive information was released by the Release of Information (ROI) clerk without proper authorization.

Outcome: 04/01/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a U.S.C. 7332 notification letter due to U.S.C. 7332 Protected Information being disclosed.…

Issue: Staff member disclosed information regarding the course of treatment on Veteran to family members without an authorization.

Outcome: 03/03/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that the Veteran will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed.…

Issue: Veteran A received Veteran's B information that was mis-mailed by a VA employee. Upon speaking to Veteran A, the information that was received on Veteran B was shredded, therefore we were unable to recover.…

Outcome: 03/03/15: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a HIPAA notification letter.…

Issue: Veteran A received a package with medication inside of it. Upon opening it, Veteran A noticed it was Veteran B's medication. Veteran A notified the Patient Advocate. Veteran A was asked to return the package via UPS to the Pharmacy…

Outcome: 12/03/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a HIPAA notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed.…

Issue: During a Release of Information (ROI) audit, the Privacy Officer (PO) found ROI staff had released 7332 protected information without an authorization to a surgical office. The notes released had 7332 information.…

Outcome: 11/26/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that the Veteran will be sent a U.S.C. 7332 notification letter due to U.S.C. 7332 Protected Information being disclosed.…

Issue: Release of Information staff mailed a toxicology report to a Veteran's neighbor upon processing a signed authorization. The authorization was for verbal communication with the Veteran's neighbor, not sending records to the neighbor. The Veteran returned the document to the…

Outcome: 10/14/14: The Incident Resolution Service Team has determined that Veteran B will be sent a 7332 notification letter due to Protected Health Information (PHI) being disclosed.…