Failure to Safeguard Resident EHR Results in Breach of Confidentiality
Penalty
Summary
A Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) failed to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of a resident's electronic health record (EHR) by leaving it open and unattended at a nurses' station. The LVN admitted to logging into the computer and then walking away, leaving the EHR visible and the computer out of her sight. The LVN acknowledged that she should have logged off the computer and not left it open and unattended. The resident whose information was exposed had been admitted with diagnoses including muscle weakness, a history of falling, and dementia, and required substantial assistance with daily activities. The Director of Nursing (DON) confirmed that staff are required to turn off computers when leaving them unattended to prevent unauthorized access to protected health information, as outlined in the facility's policy and procedure for safeguarding electronic protected health information (e-PHI).