CONTRA COSTA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: RO0X11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: CONTRA COSTA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to prevent unauthorized access and disclosure of Patient 9's protected, confidential health information, when an After Visit Summary and return to school permit were given to the wrong patient. This person and family were not involved in the patient's care and not authorized to receive the information. This failure allowed for potential unlawful or unauthorized use of the information and violation of the patient's right to privacy. Findings: During an interview on 8/26/14 at 10 a.m., the Compliance Officer confirmed that the patient's documents had been given to the incorrect patient. She stated that the names of the two patients were similar and they were seen on the same day by the same Dr. The documents were inadvertently given to the wrong patient at time of discharge. The patient, who received the documents, took them to school the following day and the school identified the error. She confirmed the information which was disclosed.The interview and a review of the letter submitted by the facility revealed that the information released included the patient's name, age, date of birth, gender, medical record number, physician's name, date of service, and diagnosis.The incident occurred due to the staff person's failure to follow protocol to use two identifiers to confirm the correct identity of the person and to reconcile the name to the name on the documents when transferring them to a patient.

Outcome:

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

Related Reports:

11 other violations reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: 04VE11.01, 2X5M11.01, 5PGN11.01, 6R9S11.01, G6H611.01, HY0X11.01, P6O211.01, SE3011.01, W8LM11.01, WPM311.01, WZHK11.01