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.
ST BERNARDINE MEDICAL CENTER
Cited by the California Department of Public Health for a violation of California’s Health and Safety Code relating to medical privacy during an inspection that began on March 24, 2015. Also cited in 41 other reports.
Report ID: 6NB411.01, California Department of Public Health
Reported Entity: ST BERNARDINE MEDICAL CENTER
Issue:
Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to ensure the confidential treatment of Patient A's protected health information (PHI) when an Access Care Representative failed to return Patient A's (a minor) insurance cards to her parent. This resulted in an unauthorized disclosure of Patient A's PHI.Findings:On April 1, 2015 at 2:15 PM, a phone interview was conducted with the Privacy Liaison regarding an entity reported incident of a breach of Patient A's PHI. The Privacy Liaison stated that Patient A's parent brought Patient A to the urgent care clinic and was asked for identification cards by the Access Care Representative. She provided the representative with Patient A's insurance cards, which contained Patient A's name, date of birth, identification numbers and insurance card names. Patient A's parent went to sit down and at the end of the visit went to the Access Care Representative and said she did not get the insurance cards back. The Access Care Representative said she did give the cards back to the parent.The Privacy Liaison stated that the facility was notified by Patient A's parent that she had received the cards in the mail anonymously. The Privacy Liaison said the facility did not send a formal notification letter of the breach of Patient A's PHI since it was the parent who notified the facility.On April 2, 2015 at 4:00 PM, a phone interview was conducted with the Access Care Representative regarding this entity reported incident. The Access Care Representative stated, "I believe a patient said she did not receive her identification cards back." She went on to say, "I can not remember that far back, but my procedure is to give all cards back." A review of the insurance cards indicated Patient A's name, date of birth, identification numbers and insurance card names.A review of the facility's policy and procedure titled, "Safeguarding PHI and Sensitive Information" dated January 17, 2012, indicated "It is the policy of (name of facility) to provide appropriate access to its information based on a need-to-know basis while preserving its confidentiality and integrity.The facility failed to return insurance cards to Patient A's parent resulting in an unauthorized release of Patient A's PHI.
Outcome:
Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Patients' Rights