SUTTER COAST HOSPITAL

Report ID: 9ORB11, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: SUTTER COAST HOSPITAL

Issue:

Based on information provided by the facility, the facility failed to prevent unauthorized access and disclosure of Patient 1's confidential health information, when Patient 1's laboratory information was faxed to a physician not involved with the patient's care and not authorized to have the information. This failure allowed the unlawful or unauthorized access to protected health information.Findings:The California Department of Public Health was notified on 9/27/13 that a Breach of Personal Health Information, occurred on 9/09/13.During an interview on 11/21/13 the Privacy Officer confirmed the information which related to this incident. He stated that he facility was contacted by the patient's physician that he had not received the requested laboratory results for this patient. During an investigation, it was discovered that during registration at the facility, the incorrect physician's name had been entered in the patient's record, resulting in the reports being misdirected. Review of documents, provided by the facility, revealed the information which was misdirected included Patient 1's name, date of birth, medical record and account numbers, telephone number and results of the Laboratory tests. This incident occurred when an employee working at the communication desk in the Outpatient Department noted that there was a backlog of patients waiting to be registered and chose to assist in registering the patients. During the process she inadvertently entered the name of the wrong physician with a similar spelling. The employee was performing multiple tasks and this resulted in human error.

Outcome:

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