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 Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on September 25, 2012. Also cited in 369 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000080509, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 08 San Juan, PR
Issue:
During a routine inspection today at 11:30 AM at the Neurology Lab for some construction work that is being performed, the Medical Service Chief entered room 1F184 Neurology where EEG technicians work and identified in unlocked drawers and desks lots of documents with the name and social security numbers of about 296 patients. The documents identified were old Sleep Studies, some dating back to 2011, appointment lists and hand written documents with lists of patients and SSNs. All these documents were seized and are under custody. The door of the EEG room was locked at the time the Privacy Officer (PO) entered but the documents were unsecured. During the inspection, the Medical Service Chief was accompanied by the Service Administrative Officer, Automated Data Processing Application Coordinator (ADPAC), the Acting Chief of Neurology, and an LPN assigned to the area. Update: 10/01/12:The room is typically locked when not in use, and most of the information was out of sight (in cabinets and drawers), however, 84 individuals information was out in plain sight. These 84 individuals will receive letters offering credit protection services due to full name and full SSN being exposed.
Outcome:
1) Appropriate corrective actions should be given to Employee A and Employee B for violations of VHA Clean Desk Policy CM No. 00-09-71 and Privacy Policy CM No. 00-12-15 according to the Sanctions Clause V.A.52) Since these are original sleep studies reports from 2011 those should be part of the Veterans electronic record and should be scanned into VISTA imaging. Acting Service Chief must determine a quality process to verify if the reports are already scanned into VISTA imaging or if they need to be scanned prospectively. 3) In addition, the process to submit documents to scanning to HIMS department must be clarified and reinforced among EEG technicians.4) As an additional finding, correction of attendance of Employee A from September 25, 2012 should be done to reflect his absence