RIVERSIDE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

Report ID: IHBC11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: RIVERSIDE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

Issue:

Based on staff interview and record review, the facility failed to prevent disclosure of protected health information for one patient, Patient 1. This failure had the potential to allow unauthorized persons to access and use Patient 1's protected health information. Findings:Patient 1 was admitted to the facility on May 10, 2011 and discharged on May 11, 2011. On December 29, 2011, at 10 a.m., the facility Privacy Officer was interviewed The Privacy Officer stated the facility received a "Notification letter" from their billing service on July 20, 2011. The letter indicated the "guarantor" listed on the admitting sheet for Patient 1 was called to discuss the bill. According to the billing representative, the person who answered the telephone acknowledged the same name as listed on the admitting sheet. When the representative started to discuss the bill, the person on the telephone stated he was not the person listed as guarantor. The "Notification Letter" from the billing company titled, "Compliance Resolution" indicated under "Compliance Findings", "...called GN (guarantor) home #(telephone) and man ID'd (identified) himself as the GN. After discussing the account, the male stated that the name is the same as the person we are looking for but demos (demographics) do not match..." The information disclosed included the patient name, account balance, and date of service.

Outcome:

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

Related Reports:

2 other violations reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: 6OTK11.01, DVFG11.01