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Inappropriate access to patient records in the VA system: 2010 statistics

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Dissent

Earlier this month, I covered a VA privacy breach incident that had been reported in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  At the time, I noted that it was not clear to me whether the incident had been included in the VA’s monthly report to Congress as I hadn’t seen anything like that case mentioned.

I wrote to the VA, who promptly explained why I had not seen a specific report on the incident:

This incident was rolled up as a mishandling incident and was not included in the August Monthly Report to Congress of Data Incidents (MRCDI). This type of incident is not usually included in the MRCDI, which generally consists of large or unusual breaches, missing equipment and representative cases in the categories of mismailings or mishandlings. The incident was reported to HHS as required by the HITECH Act and the two individuals who accessed the record inappropriately were reported to the human resources department for counseling.

The incident, however, made me realize that we had no specific numbers from the VA on how many cases of employee “snooping” they experience in the course of a year if such instances are rolled up in a broader category of incidents.

Today, a spokesperson for the VA responded to me with that information:

We had 48 incidents of employees intentionally inappropriately accessing records for the calendar year of 2010. The majority of them involved a health-related accident or illness and co-workers checking on the patient’s status. Some involved a media story or article and employees being nosy. A few involved looking at the records of ex boyfriends or ex girlfriends or ex spouses. A few involved spouses, parents, or adult children checking on family members’ appointment times or records.

Does 48 incidents in one year seem like a lot or relatively little to you? While each incident does matter in terms of privacy, given the enormity of the VA system and the number of people who have access to records, my sense is that 48 is not particularly high – although we need to keep in mind that the VA may not be detecting all such inappropriate access incidents.

Thanks to the VA for getting back to me so promptly with the information.

Category: Health Data

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