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.
Jesse Brown VA Medical Center
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on April 10, 2014. Also cited in 44 other reports.
Report ID: PSETS0000102721, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: CHICAGO HCS - 537
Issue:
A Clinician's lab coat was moved from a (secured, accessed only by medical staff) office to another area (secured, accessed only by medical staff) within the medical facility. The Call Manual was missing with possible Veterans' personally identifiable information (PII). The lab coat was found.
Outcome:
04/11/14: The Privacy Officer (PO) spoke with Doctor yesterday. It seems that someone in her secured office area removed her lab coat which contained a Call Manual with Veterans' information. Later, the lab coat was found in a different area, again in a secured office. This incident was reported to the VA Police. The PO will pick-up a copy of the Police report. 04/29/14: Upon further PO and VA Police investigation, the Call Manual contained Veterans' personally identifiable information (PII), including last name, SSN, and progress notes, has not been located. Per the PO's follow-up conversation with the Psychiatry Resident, the Call Manual contained information on greater than 2, but less than 50, Veterans. 05/05/14: The Clinician states: "I'm not sure exactly how many patients I saw on call during that period. I worked 4 weekend call shifts. (12 hours each) where I would have seen 1-5 patients per shift and 4 evening calls (3.5 hours each) where I would have seen 0-3 patients prior to the information going missing. I do not have information logged on the number of patients I saw on any of those specific shifts. I also cannot clarify exactly what portion of my notes were properly disposed of, though it was the majority." 05/14/14: The Clinician recreated the list of on-call patients. The total number affected is 19, whose name, last 4 digits of the SSN, and dates of service were potentially compromised by the loss of the logbook. The 19 Veterans will receive a HIPAA letter of notification.