RIVERSIDE COUNTY REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: HZLD11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: RIVERSIDE COUNTY REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to prevent the unauthorized access and or disclosure of Patient A's medical/private information. This failure had the potential to result in the misuse of Patient A's medical/private information.Findings:On October 23, 2013, at 4:20 p.m., a phone investigation was conducted for an entity reported incident. In a concurrent interview with the Compliance and Privacy Officer (CPO), the CPO stated on September 24, 2013, the facility's outsourced laundry service reported finding Medi-Cal eligibility documents belonging to Patient A in the received dirty linen.The CPO stated it was the practice of the facility that staff check linen before linen is sent out for cleaning.The misdirected documents were reviewed. The documents contained the following information:Patient A's name,Date of birth,Drivers License information,Social Security number,Bank account information,A rental/purchase agreement,Home address, andPhone number.The facility policy and procedure titled "Breach of Patient Privacy: Reporting Requirements," dated September 23, 2009, revealed "... Breach: The unauthorized acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of patient protected health information (PHI) that compromises the security or privacy of the PHI...Medical information: any individually identifiable information, in electronic or physical form, in possession of or derived from a provider of health care, health care service..."

Outcome:

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

Related Reports:

The report containing this deficiency also includes information about 1 other violation. Note that these may be related to the same event: HZLD11.02