EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: 6FR411, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to prevent the unauthorized access and/or disclosure of Patient A's medical/private information.This failure had the potential to result in the misuse of Patient A's medical/private information.Findings:On September 3, 2013, at 1:35 p.m., a phone investigation was conducted for an entity reported incident.In a concurrent interview with the Privacy Office Staff (POS), the POS stated on August 8, 2013, Patient A received services from the Pulmonary Speciality Clinic. The POS stated the report from the clinic visit titled "Office encounter" was "Inadvertently faxed to an unintended recipient."A review of the report titled "Office encounter" dated August 7, 2013, indicated the following:Patient A's name,Date of birth,Medical history (past and current),A list of medications Patient A was taking,Patient A's family medical history,Ethnicity, marital status,occupation, andThe physician's assessment for Patient A, impression and course of action planned.The facility policy and procedure titled "HIPPA- Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information" undated, indicated "It is the policy of ...(facility's name) that the confidentiality of Protected Health Information in records and collected...will be protected to the fullest extent possible."The policy indicated "To protect the patients right to privacy and confidentiality, at no time will names or information be shared with any person who does not have the need to know in order to provide patient care."

Outcome:

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