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 Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on August 7, 2012. Also cited in 369 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000078882, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 08 San Juan, PR
Issue:
During a TJC Tracer round, two quality management employees found documents pertaining 85 Veterans lying in the 6K Nurse Station Printer. The 6K ward was vacated since 01/20/12, but two doctors had access to an office nearby. The 6J ward in front of this ward is working in full. The printer was in an open area and the documents were dated from 02/09/12 to 03/24/12. Most of the documents contained full name, full SSN, diagnosis and medications of 38 Veterans. Update: 08/08/12:After a review of the records, the total is 85 individuals. Of those:Thirty-eight (38) Veterans will received letters offering credit protection services as the documents contained thei full SSN, full name, diagnosis and medications.Six (6) Veterans will receive notification letters, due to full name and last 4 SSN being exposed.For the remaining, there was PII exposed, but not enough to warrant credit protection or notification.
Outcome:
PO states it was impossible to identify the employee who left the documents unattended. However, privacy awareness training was given to all employees by supervisor.