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.
VA New England Healthcare System (VISN 1)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on January 24, 2013. Also cited in 204 other reports.
Report ID: PSETS0000085004, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 01 West Haven, CT
Issue:
A health technician was checking in a Veteran for his visit and was given his medicare cards to be scanned into the computer and the Veteran was called by the physician to be seen and the health technician told Veteran that they will make sure he is given his card back before the end of his appointment. Instead of walking to the office where the Veteran was being seen, the health technician decided to clip the cards onto the back of his clinical papers and some how the cards got lost. They did a thorough search around the area where the cards should have been and could not seem to be able to locate them. The technician is thinking that the cards were given to another Veteran and is trying to contact the other Veteran at this time to see if they mistakenly had given them to the patient. Update: 01/24/13:One Veteran will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.
Outcome:
The patient private insurance identification card and Medicare identification card has been retrieved and returned. The health technician was educated on the issue of not repeating this procedure again and was told to please return all personal information back to the patient's before they leave the reception's desk.