QUEEN OF THE VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: 8SCZ11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: QUEEN OF THE VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to prevent unauthorized access and disclosure of Patient's protected, confidential information when a disc with ultrasound imaging was sent to a facility outside the system and not involved in the patient's care or authorized to receive the information. This failure allowed for potential unlawful or unauthorized use of the information and violation of the patient's right to privacy. Findings: During an interview on 2/03/15 at 1:30 p.m., the Privacy Officer confirmed that the patient's information had inadvertently been sent to a hospital outside the system. When preparing a disc with requested imaging for another patient, who had the same name, Employee A also copied imaging results for this patient without noting that the birth date, for the second study, was different. The Privacy Officer confirmed the information that was disclosed. Interview and a review of the letter submitted by the facility, on 2/03/15 at 1:30 p.m., revealed that the information included the patient's name, medical record number, date of service, type of image and the actual ultrasound images.This incident was a result of the employee's failure to follow the facility's stated policy to verify identification with more than one identifier, i.e. use of birth date in addition to the name, on all documents, prior to transferring them.

Outcome:

Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Health & Safety Code 1280

Related Reports:

5 other violations reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: 3DGJ11.01, 5MKZ11.01, OEYF11.01, V4N611.01, V87511.01