VA Caribbean Healthcare System

An employee of the covered entity (CE), VA Caribbean Healthcare System, left documents containing the protected health information (PHI) of 6,006 individuals in an unsecure bag at a nursing station. The PHI included names, social security numbers, patient care assignments, patient counts and patient census lists. Upon discovery of the breach, the CE secured the PHI and provided breach notification to HHS, the media, and affected individuals. As a result of OCR's investigation, the CE disciplined and retrained the employee and implemented a procedure that nursing leadership is required to conduct rounds on wards once vacated. The CE also retrained all staff on its privacy and security policies and procedures.