EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: WRKE11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of Patient A's and Patient A's Responsible Party's private/medical information. This failure had the potential for the misuse of Patient A's and the Responsible Party's private/medical information.Findings:An unannounced visit was conducted on June 3, 2014, at 9:40 a.m., for the purpose of investigation of one entity reported incident.During an interview with the Compliance Officer (CO), on June 3, 2014, at 12:10 p.m., the CO stated on April 10, 2014, the facility was informed a billing document intended for Patient A (a minor) was sent to an unintended recipient. The CO stated Patient A's address (and/or Responsible Party's address) was not verified prior to the release of the billing document.The billing document intended for Patient A was reviewed. The document indicated the following information:Patient A's namePatient A's Responsible Party's nameInsurerPatient A's hospital account number, and hospital billing information.The facility policy and procedure titled "HIPPA- Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information undated, indicated "It is the policy of ...(facility's name) that the confidentiality of Protected Health information in records and collected...will be protected to the fullest extent possible."The facility indicated, "To protect the patient's right to privacy and confidentiality, at no time will names or information be shared with any person who does not have the need to know in order to provide patient care."

Outcome:

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

Related Reports:

1 other violation reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: POLT11.01