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.
COMMUNITY HOSPITAL OF SAN BERNARDINO
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 May 1, 2012. Also cited in 46 other reports.
Report ID: S7QV11, California Department of Public Health
Reported Entity: COMMUNITY HOSPITAL OF SAN BERNARDINO
Issue:
Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to ensure that Patient A ' s physician (MD) did not discuss private health information (PHI) in front of her family without securing her permission to do so first. This resulted in a breach of Patient A ' s PHI when her family overheard she had a sexually transmitted disease without her consent.Findings:An unannounced visit was made to the facility on 5/1/12 at 1:00 PM, to investigate an entity reported incident of a possible breach of PHI.Patient A was a 22 year old female admitted to the facility on 3/9/12 in labor with twins. Her obstetrician/gynecologist physician (OB/GYN) who was familiar with her medical history was not the one who was available from the OB/GYN group on the night she went into labor. The MD who attended to her had just learned that she had the Herpes virus in her genital area, and was concerned about the potential risks to the babies during delivery. When he entered the pre-operative area to meet with Patient A prior to delivering her twins by Caesarean section, he allegedly discussed the fact that she had genital herpes and the risks to her babies, without asking permission to do so in front of family who were present.On 5/1/12 at 1:45 PM, during an interview with the director of information services who was also the facility privacy officer, she stated, " When I interviewed [used MD ' s name] after I received this concern from the patient, he told me that he was so focused on her having a safe delivery and the risk to her babies, that he didn ' t even remember if there were other people in the room. The MD did not tell the family about her genital herpes, they overheard him discussing it with her. The patient (Patient A) didn ' t tell anyone here about this disclosure while she was still a patient. She called our facility on 4/18/12 and reported that the breach of her information had caused turmoil at home " .A review of the clinical record of Patient A dated 3/9/12, indicated under the physician notes that " this patient had just disclosed about her genital herpes virus prior to delivery. I discussed the risks to her unborn twins " .A review of the letter sent to Patient A dated 4/24/12, acknowledged the OB/GYN who had entered the
Outcome:
Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Patients' Rights