EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: SZQN11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to prevent unauthorized disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for one patient (Patient 1). An employee gave Patient 1's Office Visit Summary to another patient. This failure resulted in an unauthorized person having access to Patient 1's PHI and the potential misuse of the information.Findings:On April 30, 2015, at 9:30 a.m., the Deputy Information Privacy Officer (DIPO), was interviewed. The DIPO stated Patient 2 was being discharged from an outpatient area of the hospital on March 17, 2015, when he was given a page of Patient 1's Office Visit Summary mixed in with his own. The DIPO stated the facility practice was to highlight two patient identifiers on each page to ensure the documents being provided belonged to the right patient. The DIPO stated Licensed Nurse (LN) 1 failed to double check each page of the discharge instructions to ensure they all belonged to the same patient before giving them to Patient 2.The DIPO stated Patient 2 notified the facility that she received Patient 2's Office Visit Summary.The PHI contained on Patient 1's Office Visit Summary included:- Name;- Date of birth;- Allergies;- List of current medications; and- Prescription for new medication.The facility policy and procedure titled, "Information Privacy" reviewed/revised January 2, 2014, revealed, "... (facility name) will take all necessary steps to avoid unauthorized or unlawful access, use or disclosure of protected health information ...

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: ICTF11.01