Search Privacy Violations, Breaches and Complaints
This database was last updated in December 2015 ago and should only be used as a historical snapshot. More recent data on breaches affecting 500 or more people is available at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Breach Portal.
VA Mid South Healthcare Network (VISN 9)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on October 3, 2012. Also cited in 328 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000080814, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 09 Nashville, TN
Issue:
The Business Office sends out pre-appointment letters to Veterans with upcoming appointments. The pre-appointment letters are queued to a printer in the mailroom. The mailroom staff then place the letters in a machine that folds letter and stuffs the letters in a window envelope. However, another document also printed which contained a list of Veterans' names, SSNs and the clinic title. These other documents were not caught by mailroom staff prior to putting them in envelopes, which caused three envelopes to be mailed that had Protected Health Information (PHI) showing through the envelope window. They were then returned undeliverable by the Post Office and were returned to the medical center unopened. The incident involved three (3) envelopes and the names/SSN's of two (2) Veterans could be viewed through each envelope for a total of six (6) Veterans. Update: 10/04/12:Each of the three envelope displayed the name and SSN of two seperate Veterans. Six Veterans will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.
Outcome:
All six (6) CM Letters were mailed on 10/10/12. A Business Office Manager is working with IRM/OI&T to see if the document that prints out within these Appointment Letters can be stopped from printing. This will eliminate this type of incident from occurring again. Education and awareness was also provided to the mail clerks to insure they perform a thorough quality check on outgoing mail.