COMMUNITY REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: CTCC11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: COMMUNITY REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on staff interview, facility and administrative document review, the facility failed to keep Protected Health Information (PHI) confidential when staff gave Patient 1's discharge instructions which belonged to Patient 2. These failures placed Patients 1's PHI at a potential risk for unauthorized use. Findings:On 9/19/14 at 9:32 a.m., during an interview, the Privacy Officer (PO) confirmed Registered Nurse (RN) 1 gave discharge instructions belonging to Patient 1 to Patient 2 in error. The PO stated RN 1 did not review the paperwork when she took it off the printer to make sure she was giving instructions to the correct patient.Patient 1's PHI breached included: name, date of birth, gender, address, phone number, medical record number, account number, and appointment schedule.The hospital policy and procedure titled, "HIPAA General Rules for the Use and Disclosure of PHI" dated 4/18/12, indicated "III. Guidelines: A. Protected Health Information and Record. 1. Protected health information includes any information received, created or maintained by... in which the patient is... identified, regardless of whether the information is in oral, paper or electronic form. I. Accurate Information 1. It is the responsibility of all individuals who collect information from patients... medical record... to be as accurate and complete as possible."

Outcome:

Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Patients' Rights

Related Reports:

3 other violations reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: 257B11.01, SV9711.01, WCRV11.01