SAINT AGNES MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: 3BLH11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: SAINT AGNES MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on staff interview, clinical and administrative document review, the hospital failed to keep Protected Health Information (PHI) confidential for 11 Patients (Patients 1-11) when a copy of an Staff 2's patient list was attached to Patient 12's discharge paperwork. This placed the PHI for Patients 1-11 at potential risk for unauthorized use. Findings:On 3/7/14 at 10:30 a.m., during an interview, the Privacy Officer (PO) stated that Staff 12's patient list containing Patient 1-11's PHI was inadvertently attached to Patient 12's discharge paperwork. This list was for the use of the staff member and not intended to be given to Patient 12. Patient 1-11's PHI breached included the patient's name, medical record number, account number, date of birth, age, visit reason, and attending physician name. The Hospital policy and procedure number titled "Privacy and Confidentiality Policy" with an effective date of 9/1/09 indicated the following: "[Hospital] requires all employees and affiliates to maintain confidentiality of patient, physician and proprietary business Confidential Information. Access and distribution of Confidential Information is limited to authorized individuals in the performance of normal job-related functions. Accessing, distributing, or using Confidential Information for any purpose other than performing normal job-related functions is a violation of this policy."

Outcome:

Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Patients' Rights

Related Reports:

1 other violation reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: MT9711.01