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.
ST JUDE MEDICAL CENTER
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 February 14, 2012. Also cited in 29 other reports.
Report ID: TH8B11, California Department of Public Health
Reported Entity: ST JUDE MEDICAL CENTER
Issue:
Based on interview, the hospital failed to maintain the confidentiality of the protected health information (PHI) for patients. This resulted in patients protected health information being available to persons without the patient's permission.Findings:On 2/10/12, the hospital notified the Department of an information breach that involved a large number of patients. According to information in the notification, on 2/1/12, a letter was received at an affiliated hospital from the attorney of a patient. The letter alleged protected patient health information was available on the Internet. Initial efforts by the hospital failed to verify this but a review of additional search engines substantiated the allegations on 2/8/12. It was found that five hospital within the health system were affected. The patients' information available included blood pressure, laboratory results, smoking status, diagnoses lists, medication allergies, advanced directive status, and demographic information. A configuration error in the central repository system was determined to be the cause of the error.On 2/14/12 at 1600 hours, an interview was conducted with the hospital's Regulatory Affairs Manager. According to the Manager of Regulatory Affairs 9,020 patients in their system were affected. The hospital notified the affected patients on 2/13/12.
Outcome:
Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Health & Safety Code 1280