ADVENTIST MEDICAL CENTER - REEDLEY

Report ID: H5K511, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: ADVENTIST MEDICAL CENTER - REEDLEY

Issue:

Based on staff interview and administrative document review, the hospital failed to keep Protected Health Information (PHI) confidential when Patient 1's PHI was faxed to an unauthorized recipient. This failure resulted in not protecting the PHI for Patient 1 and possible unauthorized use. Findings: On 12/11/13 at 11:45 a.m., during an interview, the Privacy Officer (PO) stated the Patient 1's PHI was faxed to an unauthorized recipient on 9/19/12. PO stated the Admitting Clerk (AC) asked Patient 1 if he would like to have his lab work faxed to his physician's office. There was miscommunication between the AC and Patient 1 resulting in the wrong physician's fax number being input into the system.Review of the medical record indicated the following information was sent to an unauthorized recipient: Patient's demographic information and lab work. PHI included: Patient's name, address, medicare information,date of birth, medical record number, account number, phone number and results of laboratory tests. A letter was sent to the Patient informing him of the breach on 9/20/12.The Policy titled, (Hospital) Policy: Faxing Patient Protected Health Information, dated 11/18/09 indicated, Policy Summary/Intent: "It is the policy the organization...It is the senders responsibility to be aware of the content of the faxes they are sending, to exercise caution in faxing confidential information, and to take precautionary steps to; validate the fax number, key in the correct fax number, confirm fax was sent to correct fax number, as well as, request is appropriate and meets minimum necessary."

Outcome:

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