VA New England Healthcare System (VISN 1)

Report ID: PSETS0000083331, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Reported Entity: VISN 01 Togus, ME

Issue:

A doctor asked the Privacy Officer (POP) to investigate a call he had received from a person at the check cashing dept of the Hannafords Grocery Store Corporate Office. The person stated he had received a prescription faxed to their office for a patient from the Togus VA Hospital signed by a Nurse Practitioner. The PO confirmed that a script was to be faxed to the Rockland Hannafords Pharmacy on 12/4/12. The fax number for that place of business was obtained by calling the store and asking for the pharmacy fax number. 207-885-2087 was the number given as the fax number of the Rockland pharmacy and hence the prescription was then faxed. However this number was actually the fax number of the corporate office for Hannafords check cashing department. The doctor called and spoke with the PO concerning this matter and asked for direction as to how this information should be retrieved. As the PO instructed; the doctor called the person and asked that he mail back the script to the PO at the VA . The doctor attempted to give him an address to send the information to when he abruptly stated he would have to contact his lawyer . The doctor immediately notified the PO of his response.All appropriate staff of Team 2 have reviewed the process for faxing information and are acutely aware of the necessity of protecting the privacy of patients. Update: 12/06/12:One Veteran will be sent a letter of notification.

Outcome:

HIPAA letter completed and attached, Education provided.

Related Reports:

2 other violations reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: PSETS0000083329, PSETS0000083332