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.
VALLEY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
Cited by the California Department of Public Health for a violation of California’s Health and Safety Code relating to medical privacy during an inspection that began on June 11, 2014. Also cited in 40 other reports.
Report ID: C2IN11, California Department of Public Health
Reported Entity: CHILDRENS HOSPITAL CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
Issue:
Based on staff interview, clinical record and administrative document review, the hospital failed to keep Protected Health Information (PHI) confidential when staff mailed Patient 1's Occupational Therapy discharge evaluation report to the wrong address.This failure resulted in unauthorized access to Patients 1's PHI and the potential for abuse of that information.Findings:Refer to CA00398731:On 6/13/14 at 10:40 a.m., during an interview, the Accreditation Coordinator (AC) stated on 5/9/14 the Occupational Therapy department was notified by Patient 2's parent that they had received Patient 1's report in error. Patient 2's parent confirmed destroying the report. The error occurred when the Ambulatory Service Representative (ASR) could not print the address label from the system, therefore, searched by patient's name not realizing there were two patients with the same name. The ASR failed to validate other patient identifiers (patient name and date of birth) prior to mailing the report.Patient 1's PHI breached included name, date of birth, sex, medical record number, account number, date of service and health information. The facility policy and procedure number PR-1016, titled "Confidentiality" dated 08/14, indicated the following documentation. "[Hospital] will maintain adequate administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect the privacy of confidential information from unauthorized use or disclosure, whether intentional or unintentional,...".
Outcome:
Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Patients' Rights