KAISER FOUNDATION HOSPITAL - FONTANA

Report ID: PEHR11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: KAISER FOUNDATION HOSPITAL FONTANA

Issue:

Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to ensure the confidential treatment of Patient A's protected health information (PHI), when a Patient Support Services staff member (Employee 1) mistakenly placed Patient A's records with another patients records and sent them to an outside lap band surgical center, Patient A's records were to be sent to a Neurologist in Boston, MA. This failure resulted in a breach of PHI for Patient A.Finding:On August 20, 2014 at 2:50 PM, a phone interview was conducted with the Director of Licensing and Accreditation (DLA) regarding an entity reported incident of a breach of PHI for Patient A which was detected on October 11, 2010. The DLA stated, "The employee inadvertently clipped the records together, she didn't pay attention."During the phone interview with the DLA, a review of the documentation that had been sent in error included Patient A's medical records ranging from year 2000 to 2007 and included Patient A's name, date of birth, allergies, medical record number, diagnoses, H&P (History and Physical), current medications and treatments.A review of the facility policy and procedure titled, "Protected Health Information", dated January 2013, indicated, "The Workforce (medical center staff) are responsible for ensuring that they consistently employ confidentiality practices...They are responsible for following organization policies and procedures regarding confidentiality practices....".The failure of Employee 1 to ensure that Patient A's records were sent to the intended recipient resulted in the unauthorized release of Patient A's PHI.

Outcome:

Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Patients' Rights

Related Reports:

1 other violation reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: 5MRJ11.01