EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: UEWZ11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of Patient A's protected health information (PHI), when Patient A's information was inadvertently sent to the wrong provider. This failure had the potential for the misuse of Patient A's PHI. Findings:During an interview with the Compliance Officer (CO), on June 16, 2014, at 10:15 a.m., the CO stated on June 9, 2014, the facility was informed a lab result intended for Patient A's physician was sent to an unintended recipient. The CO stated the recipient of the fax notified the facility about the misdirected fax, and shredded the document. On June 16, 2014, the lab results document was reviewed. The document contained the following information related to Patient A:Name;Date of Birth;Medical Record Number; andFacility Account Number. The facility policy and procedure titled "HIPAA- Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information undated, indicated "It is the policy of ... (facility's name) that the confidentiality of Protected Health information in records and collected...will be protected to the fullest extent possible."The policy indicated, "To protect the patient's right to privacy and confidentiality, at no time will names or information be shared with any person who does not have the need to know in order to provide patient care."

Outcome:

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

Related Reports:

1 other violation reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: UD1M11.01