OSOYOOS TIMES-May 19, 2010

By Laurena Weninger – Osoyoos Times

Personal patient information sent out by Interior Health to those to whom it did not belong is being chalked up as “human error.”
“This breach was caused by a setting on a new device not being correctly set, resulting in double appointment letters being stuffed into envelopes,” said a letter sent out to a number of patients within Interior Health’s coverage area, which includes Osoyoos.
Zeno Cescon, a regional director for diagnostic imaging for Interior Health, said the “human error” was due to a setting on some new technology being used at six diagnostic imaging sites in the region – Trail, Cranbrook, Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops – but it only affected patients using the Penticton Regional Hospital Diagnostic Imaging Department.
In the fall, the six diagnostic imaging departments each installed a new “envelope stuffer.”
The technology allows diagnostic imaging appointment letters, for appointments for procedures such as CT scans and MRIs, to be computer-generated and automatically stuffed into envelopes.
The letters that were sent out in error include the patient’s name, home address, phone numbers, date of birth, public health card number, ordering physician, family physician, a description of the exam scheduled, as well as an appointment time and pre-appointment instructions.
On April 28, 187 patient letters were generated, stuffed into envelopes, and mailed.
But the stuffer was set to put multiple copies into the envelopes and that means some people got other peoples’ letters.
The next day, the department realized the error.
“When we discovered it, we contacted our patient risk department,” said Cescon.
They sent a letter out to anyone on the list of generated letters from that day, notifying them of the mistake.
“If you were a recipient of someone else’s appointment notice letter we would request its return to Interior Health when you attend for your appointment or contact me by phone to confirm that you have securely disposed of it (i.e. by shredding),” stated the letter from Shannon Carver, from Penticton’s diagnostic imaging department.
The incident has been reported to the B.C. Privacy Commissioner’s Office as per provincial legislative requirements, states the letter.
Cescon said there have been changes made after the incident, both in the Penticton centre as well as in all other six areas.
First, they are taking all unnecessary personal information off the letters, including the patient’s birth date.
Interior Health is also now using code names for the required medical procedures.
Second, the imaging departments have established a new series of procedures, including a daily check to ensure only one letter will go into each envelope.
“We’ve put everything in place so this should not happen again,” Cescon said.
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