Should not be OK in OK:Crashed internet bad but cell phones good?

State lawmakers allege Veterans Affairs committed HIPAA violation; director calls that 'unfathomable'
NewsOK
Justin Wingerter
Published: Wed, August 8, 2018

Three state legislators have called for the firing of two Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs leaders, alleging they violated federal privacy laws — an allegation the agency's executive director called “unfathomable.”

A resident sits in the hallway in the special needs unit at the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs' Talihina Veterans Center in this photo from 2017. [Photo by Mike Simons, Tulsa World file]

In a letter to Gov. Mary Fallin, Democratic Reps. Brian Renegar, Chuck Hoskin and David Perryman requested Fallin fire Veterans Affairs Executive Director Doug Elliott and clinical compliance director Tina Williams.

The lawmakers claim the crash of internet access and Veterans Affairs software on July 24 prompted Veterans Affairs leadership to order employees at the state's seven care centers to copy patient medical records onto the employees' personal cellphones.

“This is a direct violation of federal HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations,” the legislators told Fallin. They say the alleged HIPAA violation “could jeopardize the millions of federal funding dollars coming to our Oklahoma veterans.”
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Dayton VA medical center inappropriately shared veteran's medical information

Air Force veteran can't get answers about medical records
Dayton (Ohio) Daily News
By Josh Sweigart
Published: April 2, 2014

When Air Force veteran Janet Jennings received notice in the mail last week that someone at the Dayton VA medical center had inappropriately shared her medical information, the news came with an apology.

But what Jennings can’t get is an explanation.

She called the local Department of Veterans Affairs phone number listed on the letter, but instead of telling her what happened, an “employee did not treat Ms. Jennings with the respect she deserves,” the VA admitted in a statement after Jennings called the I-Team.

“I don’t understand why they would not tell me who my information has been released to,” Jennings said in an interview in her Fairborn home.

“Was it released to a finance company, a medical company, somebody walking down the hall?”

This adds to a string of embarrassing cases of patients’ private medical information ending up in the wrong hands. Other issues in recent years included a stash of medical records found in a Centerville attic, and veterans receiving the wrong records in the mail.

VA officials tell the I-Team that the latest incident was isolated to Jennings and one other patient.

“In Ms. Jennings’ case, one page of her medical record was unredacted, leaving her name, date of birth, telephone number, and diagnosis visible. Her Social Security number was not included,” VA spokesman Ted Froats wrote in a statement.

The employee responsible is facing “significant administrative action,” Froats said.

The employee who was rude to Jennings has since retired from the VA, he said.
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VA denies patient records were compromised in California

VA says its patient records weren't compromised
Bakersfield Californian
By LOIS HENRY Californian staff writer
Oct 17 2013

Responding to allegations that a doctor had taken confidential patient records out of the Bakersfield Veterans Administration clinic, the VA announced Thursday that three separate investigations over the course of seven months showed that no such patient information had been "released into the community or abused in any way."

"We are confident that these results confirm that veterans in Bakersfield and Kern County did not have their personal information compromised," said David Holt, the VA Los Angeles associate director who was in Bakersfield Thursday to talk to the media and meet with veterans at the clinic just west of downtown Bakersfield.

He praised clinic staff for being vigilant and reporting their suspicions, but repeated several times that veterans had no cause for concern about their personal information.

Some of the original tipsters weren't convinced.

Two of the staffers who made the reports maintained that patient records were breached and they were unsurprised by what they felt was a continuing VA whitewash.

"The VA doesn't want anyone to know, the general public to know, that a VA employee could do this terrible HIPAA violation and they'll deny it forever because it makes them look bad," said JoAnn Van Horn, the former clinic site manager who has since retired.

HIPAA is a reference to federal laws that prohibit the release of private medial information.

Van Horn said she notified the Los Angeles VA office several times that medical records could be at risk based on reports from a security guard and others who said they saw a doctor taking boxes and even garbage bags filled with documents out of the clinic after hours.

"It was common knowledge among the people who worked late," she said.
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Privacy breaches in VA health records wound veterans

Privacy breaches in VA health records wound veterans
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
By Carl Prine
Published: October 13, 2013

Karen Santoro heard co-workers chattering about her psychological care in 2010.

An Air Force veteran and surgical services scheduler at the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh hospital in Oakland, Santoro asked officials with the VA and the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the source of the gossip. It seemed to violate the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, that prohibits release of medical information.

Advised by her physician, Santoro begged her bosses to transfer her or let her work from home until investigators finished their work. They refused. She resigned in mid-2011, disgusted with VA's disregard of privacy laws. She is convinced that officials were retaliating against her and concerned by “inaction” by Health and Human Services, which enforces HIPAA at all health care facilities.

“It's unconscionable that the very people who defend the rights of the American people don't have those rights at VA,” said Santoro, 46, of Pittsburgh's South Side. “... We must fight back and change the system because we deserve a better one.”

A two-month Tribune-Review investigation found VA workers or contractors committed 14,215 privacy violations at 167 facilities from 2010 through May 31, victimizing at least 101,018 veterans and 551 VA employees. Photos of the anatomy of some were posted on social media; stolen IDs of others were used to make fraudulent credit cards.
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