RIVERSIDE COUNTY REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Report ID: RPXO11.01, California Department of Public Health

Reported Entity: RIVERSIDE COUNTY REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Issue:

Based on interview and facility document review, the facility failed to prevent unauthorized access and/or disclosure of Patient 1's medical information, when discharge information was inadvertently faxed to the wrong number. This failure had the potential to result in misuse of private/protected information.Findings:On June 6, 2013, at 1:30 p.m., the Privacy Officer (PO), was interviewed. The PO stated Patient 1 was being transferred to another facility on January 22, 2013. She stated Staff 1 inadvertently faxed Patient 1's discharge medication orders to a "Fixture store." The PO stated, the company phoned the facility to inform them of the misdirected fax. The PO stated, during her investigation she was able to determine that Staff 1 inadvertently entered one wrong number when faxing the information to another facility.The facility form titled, "Discharge Medication Orders," dated January 22, 2013, for Patient 1 was reviewed. The information on the form included, Patient 1's name, date of birth, medical record number, and medication prescribed.The facility policy titled, "Patient Privacy, Confidentiality, Medical Records, and Access to, or Release or Disclosure of, Patient Information (revised January 2, 2009)" was reviewed. The policy indicated: "Purpose: To protect patients' right to privacy and security of their healthcare information......Personnel shall maintain the confidentiality/privacy of information contained in the medical records of patients and, except for the purposes of treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, shall not disclose patient information without the patient's written authorization......Medical Information: Any individually identifiable information, in electronic or physical form, in possession of or derived from a provider of health care, health care service plan, pharmaceutical company, or contractor regarding a patient's medical history, mental or physical condition, or treatment......Individually Identifiable Information: The medical information includes or contains any element of personal identifying information sufficient to allow identification of the individual, such as the patient's name...or other information that, alone or in combination with other publicly available information reveals the individual's identity..."

Outcome:

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

Related Reports:

3 other violations reported on the same date. Note that other citations may be about the same event: 4VQL11.01, 7D8311.01, BCV511.01