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.
Desert Pacific Healthcare Network (VISN 22)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on April 6, 2011. Also cited in 129 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000060566, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 22 Los Angeles, CA
Issue:
An individual found a handwritten note in hallway. The handwritten note was given to Compliance Officer. The note contained patient's name, date of birth, son's telephone number, medication needed and need for consultation. The Compliance Officer went to the department where the note originated and reminded the staff of the importance of protecting patients' personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI). Update: 04/07/11:Patient A will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.04/07/11:No SSN but DOB was on card, so credit protection services is still needed.
Outcome:
The Chief of nephrology met with his employees and discussed the lost note card and the importance of protecting materials with personal identifiers as well as distributed a memo with the HIPAA privacy Do's and Donts. A credit monitoring letter is attached to ticket. A notification letter was uploaded and was also mailed.