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 September 19, 2011. Also cited in 208 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000066925, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 20 Walla Walla, WA
Issue:
The Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) Nurse Manager was tidying the waiting room and found a printed list of patients that were enrolled in the home oxygen program. The Manager had gone through the waiting room at 7:00 AM and the documents were not found at that time. At 2:30 PM the documents were found on an end table in the waiting room with blank documents for My HealtheVet enrollment. The Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) nurse generated the list and passed it off to a Health Technician (HT). The HT gave the document back to the CCHT nurse. The CCHT nurse gave the document to a Medical Service Assistant (MSA). The Privacy Officer (PO) is still investigating what took place after this. The information on the list included the patients' names, partial SSNs, the provider's name, date and clinic in which the patient is being treated. Update: 09/21/11:The CBOC Nurse Manager is investigating. Apparently the CCHT nurse printed a list of 212 patients and asked either the HT and/or MSA to obtain the providers' names and then to contact the patients to recruit them for Home Telehealth services. 09/26/11:The 212 patients will receive a letter of notification.
Outcome:
Privacy Officer recommended counseling letters be sent to the staff involved outlining their responsibilities for protecting Veteran information.