Wrong medical reports

11/26/2006 Joc V. says:

go to member services and turn in all this info; they track this type of confidentiality breach and report it to their quality department.

11/26/2006

This account has been closed.

11/26/2006 Barb "fully fatigued" B. says:

somebody is in some deep hippa doo-doo

11/26/2006 Nenette "Nips" Y. says:

You might want to speak to the Kaiser Ombudsman

11/26/2006 Jess S. says:

I agree with Ernie.

11/26/2006 Keane L. says:

Ugh, I have Kaiser.,..

11/26/2006 B.K. "Angry Whopper" W. says:

And now Jo C. knows all your embarrassing medical conditions, Charlie.  Like Ick and Swim Bladder Disease.

11/26/2006 Josey E. says:

Must have been one lazy receptionist to stick 6 lab results in one envelope.....or maybe it was an innocent error....

11/26/2006 Keane L. says:

My roe is oily, and I'm a dude.

11/26/2006 Daniela "Wants to Move to Vienna" L. says:

Nice!  Why am I not surprised? I have Kaiser and it takes me forever to get results...if I don't call them to find out, I have to wait more than 2 weeks.  Ridiculous, especially if you're freaking out based on the type of exams you had to take.

11/26/2006 Spencer G. says:

post their personal info on this yelp talk thread.

11/26/2006 Mister J. says:

I would also contact the AMA (American Medical Association) with this information. It's a serious breach of doctor/patient confidentiallity, and can (and should) lead to a Federal investigation.

Kaiser is already under Federal investigation (for their kidney transplant program), so this is nothing new to them, but you probably want to alert the AMA anyway.

11/26/2006 Barb "fully fatigued" B. says:

there are whistleblowers within Kaiser saying this type of crap is happening way too easily and Kaiser's CEO and co. is painting it like those folks are trouble-makers. Whistle blowers get put "on leave" or fired. Make a stink.

11/26/2006 Barb "fully fatigued" B. says:

this is the stuff that has been going down at Kaiser internally....big problems ahead
http://www.kaiserthriv...

11/26/2006 KayJay .. says:

I agree with Ernie.  This is something that will be swept under the rug if you just report it to Kaiser.  I think the AMA would be a good idea.  This is a serious breach and loss of confidentiality.

Was mine in there?  Am I alright?  How's my cholesterol?  I've been waiting on my reports  : )

11/26/2006 Cathy H. says:

Definitely raise a ruckus and get some news coverage. I have yet to see a highly publicized HIPAA fine. Seriously, what's the point of legislation if no one cracks a whip?!?!

Even if this maybe an innocent mistake of someone overstuffing an envelope, then Kaiser should definitely notified. Can you imagine if a nurse injected a few milligrams too much meds or narcotics in someone's IV.

There should be a system and process in place. If somehow that process is broken and someone can be blamed for fault, then someone needs to improve the process so the error is virtually at 0% and blame can be honed in on the process, not the individual. These are simple principles in the book of process improvement and on the way to six sigma.

Plus a few months ago, a fired Kaiser employee was able to walk away with hundreds of private patient information. Everyone knows to always check off "security breach by disgruntled fired employees" when implementing a medical privacy and security system. She threatened to publish that information on the internet.

Even though I don't have Kaiser insurance, don't work for Kaiser, or am not even remotely affiliated, I am infuriated that something like this happened to you. This is just one of many breaches, and is an element to a larger problem that Kaiser needs to send it straight to the CEO's priorities.

It's almost a civic duty to get some publicity for change. Just imagine how many ppl in California have Kaiser Health Care. Represent them!

11/26/2006 m'ia "|-_-| Yes, I love Natto" k. says:

This is really really really serious. It is a violation of HIPAA, which , as Cathy mentioned, a VERY VERY serious infraction on the part of Kaiser.

(HIPAA is the "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act" which is enforceable under state and federal law now.)

I would contact these people IMMEDIATELY:  (tomorrow.) and keep all the documents and paperwork- do NOT hand them over to Kaiser right away. (or at the very least, take copies before you hand them back, and do not disclose the info to others- you can sharpie out the last names and soc sec #s.)

California Office of HIPAA Implementation
1600 9th Street, Room 460
Sacramento, CA 95814
PH: (916) 654-3454
FAX: (916) 653-9588
ohicomments@ohi.ca.gov

11/26/2006 Rhonda M. says:

Call the L.A. Times first  - they do the only decent job of reporting on Kaiser. All the newspapers in the San Francisco area suck up to Kaiser.

11/26/2006 maria d. says:

The hospital should have a privacy/HIPAA officer exactly for these types of situations.

11/26/2006 m'ia "|-_-| Yes, I love Natto" k. says:

It *should* have one , in theory, Maria, but since this person's paycheck (whoever has the job) comes directly from Kaiser, her/his job is EXACTLY what you'd expect:
To keep this under wraps as much as possible to avoid any further damage to the Kaiser reputation.

It might take a while to get a response, but i think sac-town is worth contacting. I have, for other related things, and they do call you back.

11/26/2006 hello "hello kitty" k. says:

Call 7 on Your Side from ABC so it doesn't get swept under the rug.  Shame on Kaiser..

11/26/2006 m'ia "|-_-| Yes, I love Natto" k. says:

If you go that route, here's the info:
http://abclocal.go.com...

11/26/2006 Poe "lost my kitty cat" .. says:

Why does this not surprise me? Good luck getting a hold of anyone with half a brain at member services.
I could write a book about all the shit they have done to me. The most recent; they have all of a sudden decided that I speak Spanish so they have been sending everything including instructions to my meds in Spanish. I've spoken to 3 people and e-mailed 2 other people. It's been 3 months and they still can't get it right.
Maybe they re just trying to encourage me to become tri-lingual.

11/26/2006 m'ia "|-_-| Yes, I love Natto" k. says:

Poe, that is nutters!! what is UP with that? Medication directions in Spanish, to someone who didn't request it? Ugh!

Not to pick on Kaiser at all- the health care system is in a huge need of a re-vamping and it's situations like this that reflect it even more--- can you IMAGINE if this type of info fell into the wrong hands???

11/26/2006 Poe "lost my kitty cat" .. says:

Meanwhile they are spending millions on their recent advertising campaign.
I think I hate them more than the federal gov.

11/26/2006 m'ia "|-_-| Yes, I love Natto" k. says:

OH you are right!!! Giving Allison Janney big buckaroos for her "we think the glass is half full" BS..
I totally forgot that...

11/26/2006 J "overgrown with summer foliage" A. says:

I'll keep my tongue in check here.
First of all, there are checks and balances in place. Whoever stuffed that envelope-first off did not do the check of the Name Birthday address as you are supposed to. Mia and I are both in the health fields. I agree with Mia, report it to the HIPAA office and secondly turn the documentation that belongs to other patients back to Kaiser-since they are not your records and ask to meet or speak with the Patient Relations as soon as possible to discuss the breach of confidentiality. Those people need to know their results as well. Secondly, the AMA has nothing to do with this. It is not the doctor's fault. He/She usually doesn't stuff envelopes. Not me or I think even them would do something that stupid to endanger our licensure we worked so hard for.  Since this is a Federal, State, and Kaiser thing, those are the parties involved. Take care of this immediately tomorrow.

11/27/2006 Cruella de V. says:

Contact David Lazarus, a business / consumer watchdog columnist with the Chronicle.  Privacy is one of his favorite topics and he does not suck up to Kaiser.  See http://www.sfgate.com/...

11/27/2006 Poe "lost my kitty cat" .. says:

For more of my sad Kaiser stories:

http://www.yelp.com/bi...

11/27/2006 J "overgrown with summer foliage" A. says:

Joy doesn't use Kaiser. you know why? Too many family tragedies and mishaps at their hands. They once gave me the wrong medication-they had iron in them-NOT what the doctor ordered and wrong dosage. I didn't take them, went back to the pharmacy and made a big stink about it. They said,' they're just birth control pills'. I said, 'Would you say that if I were a heart patient getting Digoxin????!!!!!! I'd be dead by now or really sick if I were elderly, had poor eyesight and blindly trusted idiots like you'. I got the right dose for free.

11/27/2006 gRaCe "( | )" M. says:

Jo C.... duude... twice I received my lab results in the mail with the envelopes UNSEALED.  total violation of HIPAA policies.

11/27/2006 maria d. says:

I'm with Joy here. I work in a hospital, in the administration, and I think it's best to start with the hospital rather than go to the media. I used to do admin stuff as well, like sending test results to patients, etc and it could have been a simple mistake on the part of the administrative person. But, you should defenitely report it.

11/27/2006 Sun E. says:

Well- NO SURPRISE to mwa...NOPE!

That is a hefty f-up!

Reminds me of being contacted by my "doc" stating my blood work results were totally outta wack and I needed immediate care and further testing.
This "doc" had me scared silly.

After I questioned the tests & results- come to find out the dummy called the wrong patient!

Got a lot of stories that would absolutely blow you away!

Really- I am not surprised this happened to you, Jo C.

Believe me- this shit happens outside of Kaiser as well...BIG time!

I have a book's-worth of really disturbing stories...honestly!

11/27/2006 Cathy H. says:

HIPAA was signed into law in the Fall of 1996 and a few amendments have followed since then. Folks, it's 2006. HIPAA is nothing new, and if health care institutions are still having trouble grappling with simple privacy and security of patient information, there is obviously a serious compliance and/or process implementation problem.

What if Jo received a list of people's names, SSNs, DOBs, addresses, and CC#'s? Although Jo has no malicious intent, I think the conversation would be very different. Financial institutions monitor security breaches, and they rarely wait to react to customer complaints and reports. They actively contact unbeknownst consumers of breaches before the consumer discovers fraud and reports them. If we hold financial institutions to such high standards of privacy & security, why don't we hold health care institutions to similar or higher standards?

Why just wait until your complaint number is addressed?

If the other 6 medical information slips Jo possesses were for

George C. Halvorson, National Chairman and CEO,
J. Neal Purcell, Board of Director,
Burk Turkstra, Interim CIO,
Bernard J. Tyson, Senior VP of Operations,
Robert M. Pearl, Executive director and CEO, Nor Cal, and
Mary Ann Thode, President, Nor Cal,

the responses would be very different.

People brag about their distinguished ophthalmologists with superior Lasik performance and mention that their doctor would perform the procedure on their wife/husband. Similarly, these Kaiser executives should feel that they can subject themselves, their family and friends to the same health care security and privacy as their patients. If I was running Kaiser and knew that such mishaps happened, I would not be able to sleep soundly at night, and I hope these executive aren't in deep REM right now.

Your complaint would not be another lost piece of paper in a stack of papers miles high. Someone's job would be on the line. In fact, the other six people would already know what happened because there would be some system of notification in place to warn the institution of these errors. The institution's movers and shakers would have already offered steps to rectify the issue. Active accountability offers more momentum towards resolution than passive reporting.

I agree with Maria and Joy that you should inform Kaiser through the proper channels (HIPAA Office, patient relations, etc). But I implore you to go an extra mile because someone, who might be handling your case, cares more about their job security and bonuses and do the bare minimum to get satisfactory JCAHO and other credentials. And the security of our health care information should not be subject to the unintentional whims of these people. What if someone also has your juicy health information? It's been 10 years since HIPAA. Where is the accountability? Passive action or inaction is not an option here.

11/27/2006 Daniela "Wants to Move to Vienna" L. says:

I don't think it's just Kaiser....Blue Shield is another great one.

11/27/2006 m'ia "|-_-| Yes, I love Natto" k. says:

I think it's good to contact Kaiser to let them know that this occurred, but my take on this is that their JOB is to cover this up. If it's happened once, it's happened multiple times, and the only time this will gain the spotlight is if this happens to A: someone famous B: someone in politics or C: someone really sick who gets fired/discriminiated against because of their health status.

Kaiser, btw, has been under fire for quite some time (the author from Cruella's suggestion wrote an interesting editorial in SFGATE)--- apparently they have been outsourcing their call centers and once this info is overseas and in databases, it can become a free for all.

11/28/2006 m'ia "|-_-| Yes, I love Natto" k. says:

Jo C: did anything come of your research today? (Monday?)

Just wondering...

11/28/2006 Private I. says:

Good morning mia!  i thought i was the only one putting these threads into rotation right now.

11/28/2006 m'ia "|-_-| Yes, I love Natto" k. says:

Good morning!! Just got out of a crazy long study session and I have 11 hours to memorize a case.. blaaagh.. and y'all are so much more fun. : )

11/28/2006 Private I. says:

yeah!  good luck  with that....ah can't type much longer.... eyes sting *rub rub* ah makeup smeared all over stings ah *rub rub rum run
 night

11/28/2006 Private I. says:

imy eyes sting... but iwanted to ask you if your cat ended up being all right,,, that was you a few weeks ago right?

11/28/2006 Josey E. says:

Someone from Kaiser contacted me...I'll be calling them soon....seems someone told them about this post.

11/28/2006 Cathy H. says:

Haha. Kaiser is doing "damage control" now...

11/28/2006 Padmae K. says:

Good Luck, Jo.
Please stay away from Kaiser for emergency medical care. Many years ago, my boyfriend's grandfather died in the care of Kaiser. The reasons were so obvious that the hospital did not even fight a malpractice lawsuit. They just wanted the whole incident quietly swept under the rug. While this was merely an unfortunate incident for them, an entire family's lives were changed. How horrible is it to know your loved one didn't have to die if they were given the right medicine and treatment? Ever since then, the BF's family and extended family stay far away from Kaiser and warn everyone they know including myself to seek other hospitals for care. :-(

11/28/2006 m'ia "|-_-| Yes, I love Natto" k. says:

Padmae, I am sorry ... I think medical errors (that HURT people, not clerical ones) are something that is still 'hidden' at times, in both ER and inpatient settings.... (not to pick on Kaiser at all, though.)

Woah! no kidding! that's amazing, Jo- that someone from Kaiser actually read this on Yelp?
(Crossing fingers and hoping that they don't all log in at once to flag...)

11/28/2006 Jackson C. says:

Kaiser contacted you because the breach was reported on this blog:

http://corphq.livejour.../

This person tracks Kaiser HIPAA violations. Kaiser was fined $200,000 for leaving the private information of 150 of its patients publicly accessible on the internet for 5 years.  You may remember the story because Kaiser first tried to squirm out of responsibility by claiming she had stolen the information when she worked at Kaiser a few years earlier, and that she had posted it herself.  The Department of Managed Health Care investigated and found Kaiser was responsible and had lied about it, thus the $200,000 fine.  This didn't stop Kaiser from suing the blogger anyway, and continuing to lie to the press.

A summary of events is available here:

http://corphq.livejour...

11/28/2006 Private I. says:

ooo, i love "the shadow people" of yelp... so informative, thank you question mark face, thank you.

11/28/2006 Dawn M. says:

Good advice on this thread; definitely follow up on this and do not drop the ball.  That is a serious HIPAA violation.

I know someone who called their health insurance company and got connected to another customer who was waiting on hold, not a customer service rep.  SCARY!

11/28/2006 Cruella de V. says:

Nice to see that Kaiser is trying to build public confidence via a mixture of killing patients, cover-ups, public relations, and suing critics.

11/29/2006 Mary D. says:

I'd be very interested in knowing how this was followed-up on.  Any news?