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 Southeast Network (VISN 7)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on February 8, 2012. Also cited in 225 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000071570, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 07 Tuscaloosa, AL
Issue:
On 02/08/12, the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) Program Manager was notified by the HBPC RN that several locked office desk drawers in the HBPC Nursing and Social Work offices had been broken into at the Medical Center Tower Site. Staff discovered the incident after arrival to work the morning of 02/08/12. The information at risk included patients' names, addresses, dates of birth full SSNs and protected health information. Update: 02/09/12:Sixteen (16) Patients will receive letters offering credit protection services due to full name and full SSN being exposed.
Outcome:
Training has been provided to the VA staff by the Privacy Officer and immediate supervisor. Additional measures have been put in place to ensure protection of personally protected health information. VA staff that works at the HBPC Clinic have been instructed to only print the HBPC progress notes on the day of the home visit. If any progress notes are printed prior to any home visit(s), the document will be placed in a locked bag and stored in a secure file cabinet. After use, the documents are disposed in a secure locked shred bin.