VA Heartland Network (VISN 15)

Report ID: SPE000000070881, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Reported Entity: VISN 15 Marion, IL

Issue:

On 01/19/12, the VAMC Chief of Police was contacted by the local city Police Department regarding an Offense Report generated by their office on 12/06/11. On that date, a former physician, Physician A, filed a wrongful death complaint against Physician B, who is a current employee of this facility. Physician A provided a verbal report to the city officer, as well as a handwritten statement and two VA documents titled "Incomplete Records Listing by Physician". These documents were included with the Offense Report. The report generated from the verbal statement provided by Physician A included the full name, address, and date of birth of Physician B, along with a narrative of the events surrounding deceased Veteran A's hospital course. It is unclear if Physician A provided this information to the city officer or if the information was pulled from a Police database. Veteran A's full name was found in all three documents. The written statement listed Veteran A's medical information, including his diagnoses, medication, and more in depth details of the Veteran's hospital course. The "Incomplete Records Listing By Physician" included the full names and last four digits of the SSNs of four Veterans, including Veteran A. It also provided information specific to the type of discharge of the four Veterans, (i.e., transfer out, OPT-NSC, and death). The city Police Officer's Offense Report indicated that Physician A had contacted the VA Office of Inspector General. Important Notes: -- Physician A was an employee on the date of the incident; however, he is no longer employed at this facility. -- City Officer Report indicated "no further investigation pending by this officer."-- Request has been made to mark Veteran A's CPRS record sensitive.-- CPRS records indicated that Veteran A was homeless and that he did not have a valid/legal next-of-kin listed.-- VA Uniformed Officer Report Number was pending at the time of entry of this notification. -- VA Police has confirmed that the information was forwarded to the OIG. Update: 01/23/12: The Privacy Officer reports that Physician A could have unknown amounts of patient data, but there is no way to confirm this at this time. The OIG has been contacted. The one patient who has passed away whom Physician A definitely had personally identifiable information (PII) for was homeless and had no known next of kin. Physician A was placed on Administrative Leave the day before he filed the wrongful death complaint against Physician B. 01/24/12: Physician A was placed on Administrative Leave on 12/05/11 until his final termination on 12/09/11. The VA purchased a plane ticket for the physician to return to his country of citizenship. Marion was a sponsor for the physician's H1B visa. One of the requirements of the sponsorship was that VA would be responsible for returning the physician to his home country if the employment ended. At this point the plane ticket has not been used. 01/25/12: The three patients whose PHI was disclosed in the Police report will be sent notification letters. 02/14/12: Physician A is still in the country according to the Privacy Officer. The OIG has recommended that Regional Counsel attempt to contact Physician A to retrieve any additional documentation that he might have. 03/06/12: The PO spoke with the regional counsel attorney assigned to this case. The former employee's attorney has agreed that he will request the return of any medical records containing PII or PHI that he may have in his possession. Copies of the documents that are known to be in his possession have been shared with our attorney to ensure those documents are recovered. Per our attorney, "we will attempt to seek return of the medical records and resolve the matter." 08/07/12: The ex-employee physician has lost his EEO case. The OIG has not recovered any additional PII from the ex-employee's lawyer. The three patients have been provided notice.

Outcome:

The employee was terminated.