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.
VA Heart of Texas Health Care Network (VISN 17)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on June 5, 2012. Also cited in 122 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000076379, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 17 Temple, TX
Issue:
A Veteran patient reported that while walking through the facility, she came upon a stack of papers that was unattended. The paperwork was determined to be an inpatient list containing the full name, partial SSN, admission date, and ward location of 389 Veterans. The Veteran immediately located the nearest information desk and returned custody of the information to a staff member. The information was never outside the confines of the facility. Update: 06/10/12:The 14 page inpatient list was located in a major hallway on a ledge that contained free reading materials (novels, magazines). The list was printed at 7:04 AM and was found at 1:50 PM. There is no way of definitely knowing when or how long the list was left there. This area is one of the most traveled areas in the facility as it is the main entrance from the valet parking area and used to transition from the inpatient to the outpatient areas of the facility. There are video cameras in the area however they were not focused on that particular area of the hallway.06/13/12:Per the decision made by the national VA Data Breach Core Team, the 389 Veterans will receive notification letters due to their full names and Protected Health Information (PHI) being exposed in a major hallway for an unknown length of time.
Outcome:
The source of the document could not be verified. A review of the security cameras revealed that the location was not covered by the cameras. An OI&T search could not identify the originating printer location. Staff members have been reminded to secure VA sensitive information at all times. All 389 notification letters have been completed and processed for mailing and will be forwarded on July 16, 2012.