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.
Northwest Network (VISN 20)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on March 30, 2012. Also cited in 208 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000073519, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 20 Portland, OR
Issue:
A document with 30 pages of neurology notes from a Veteran's medical record were mistakenly faxed to a public school instead of to the hospital who had requested them. The error occurred by one digit of the fax number being transposed. Upon receiving the fax, an employee at the school contacted our facilitys Release of Information office at the number provided on the fax cover sheet to report the error. We have requested the records be mailed back to the VA so we can account for their destruction.The records faxed did not contain any information protected by 38 USC 7332. Update: 03/30/12:The Veteran will be sent a letter offering credit protection services, as his full SSN was disclosed in the fax.
Outcome:
All pages of the mis-faxed documents were received back from the recipient and are accounted for. All ROI staff have been reminded to be cautious of misdialing outgoing faxes.