Oh my, when will they ever learn at the Veterans Affairs Department?
I have heard from well placed sources that an employee at the VA medical center in Atlanta downloaded patient clinical data to a personal laptop, and an investigation may be pending.
Details are sparse on this breaking story, but I was told the employee -- a physician assistant nurse practitioner -- downloaded 18 years worth of clinical data on an unknown number of patients to conduct research.
If this all sounds eerily familiar, it is. In 2006 a VA data analyst downloaded information on 26.5 million records -- or practically every living veteran -- onto the hard drive on his personal laptop, which was later stolen.
The good news in the current situation is that the laptop was not stolen. The bad news is that none of the downloaded data in 2006 included clinical information, while all the current case involved a whole mess of medical data.
The timing on this could not be worse. The Obama administration is trying to sell the American public on the need for a national electronic health record system. That's a tough sell if folks find out that their supposedly private electronic records are subject to downloads for research.
Does VA have policies and procedures that bar the download of veteran data to personal laptops? You bet. But the best policies and procedures don't do much in the face of human ignorance.
COMMENTS
"a physician assistant downloaded 18 years worth of clinical data on an unknown number of patients to conduct research".
I wasn't aware that this was even possible. Can we go back 18 years in VISTA to collect data?
Julia Gamble 03/15/10 08:29 am ET
Might want to ask that question in another way. Like when these employees attempt these downloads when were they hired, if in the past decade you'll have your answers. That's when much of these incompetent workers and issues started really coming to light, downloaded info, lost laptops etc etc;, and looks like what was happening in the Justice Department and the political appointees there!
Jim Starowicz 03/15/10 07:52 am ET
I think a property pass is required to bring personal equipment onto a VA facility.
cindy 03/10/10 11:45 am ET
Hi Bob:
I need to correct your posting.
The employee in question was never able to connect her unencrypted laptop to the VA network. Port blocking technologies are enforced in Atlanta, and she was denied access. Thus, no "downloading" of information ever occured.
Any information existant on the personal laptop was hand entered, and as you point out this violates all kinds of policies and training at the VA.
Thanks for correcting this post. VA has come a long way in protecting Veterans' information since 2006.
Roger Baker 03/08/10 11:27 pm ET