EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: 0RFI11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on interview and document review, the facility failed for one patient (Patient A), to ensure that (PHI) Protected Health Information was not disclosed to any entity not authorized to receive the information. This failed practice resulted in unauthorized access to Patient A's demographic information and medical records.Findings:On September 10, 2012, a visit was made to the facility to investigate a breach of PHI.On June 22, 2012, EMC staff discovered that Protected Health Information was sent to entity not authorized to receive the information. On June 15, 2012, Patient A and B were seen at an EMC clinic. Both patients ' practitioners wrote orders for their patients. The wrong lab order was picked up from the printer and given to the wrong patient. The breach was not discovered until Patient A went to the lab to get his test done. The lab technician was the individual that discovered the error. An interview was conducted with the Compliance Officer on September 10, 2012, at 12:15 p.m. The Compliance Officer stated the clinic used a shared printer, and it was identified through their investigation that the EMC employee did not verify he had picked up the right lab order before giving it the patient.The facility's policy and procedures titled, "HIPPA- Use and Disclosure of Protective Health Information," and "Information Privacy," were reviewed. The policies did not address steps to be taken by staff to verify the documents were correct prior to disclosing PHI.

Outcome:

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

Related Reports:

16 other violations reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: 0B0011.01, 5RJU11.01, 6Y8Z11.01, 78UZ11.01, 8W3U11.01, BJKK11.01, FOJX11.01, HQLM11.01, IBVX11.01, M5TE11.01, OVIN11.01, Q1SN11.01, TOBU11.01, WHRC11.01, WHRC11.02, XRSE11.01