BAKERSFIELD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Report ID: U3PJ11.02, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: BAKERSFIELD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Issue:

Based on interview and record review, the hospital failed to safeguard one patient's (B) protected health information (PHI). This resulted in the unauthorized access of Patient B's PHI. Findings: During a review of the 1/25/13, hospital report, the following was noted, "On January 14, 2013 Bakersfield Memorial Hospital may have detected a possible violation of...unintentional / incidental breech (sic) of patient information and is hereby reporting pursuant to it...On December 18, 2012 patient A signed the Conditions of Admission that contained the chart labeling information for Patient B. As a result of the investigation, we found that Patient B's name, Date of Birth, Hospital Medical Record and Account Numbers, date of admission, age, and sex was on the label..."During an interview with Privacy Official (PO), on 7/8/13 at 3:25 PM, she stated the hospital discovered the incident when the Admitting and Registration department was putting the chart together and realized Patient A had signed the Conditions of Admission document for Patient B. It appears to be accidental and can occur if the staff printing the documents chooses the name of a patient other than the intended patient. Before a patient signs any documents, the staff should ensure the documents the patient is signing is correctly labeled with the correct patient's name.

Outcome:

Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Medical Record Availability

Related Reports:

The report containing this deficiency also includes information about 1 other violation. Note that these may be related to the same event: U3PJ11.01