Grace under pressure: Safeguarding patient privacy in the Emergency Department

In the fast-paced and high-stakes emergency medicine environment, our dedicated workforce rises to the daily challenge of helping patients. Working in the Emergency Department demands clinical expertise, extraordinary resilience, compassion, and grace under pressure when responding to critical trauma cases and managing unpredictable patient volumes. This dynamic environment also increases the risk that privacy events will occur.  

In the spirit of continuous improvement, the following examples from several hospitals are shared as friendly and essential reminders to stay vigilant about maintaining the privacy and security of patient information. 

EMR Chart Corrections  

Images from one patient were accidentally uploaded into the electronic medical record (EMR) of a different patient. The mistakes were quickly caught, and the EMRs were corrected with HIM support. Because these events were promptly reported and the EMRs fixed, no improper access or releases of information (ROI) resulted. The results were near-miss events. 

Recommended Preventive Action: Please verify images are being uploaded into the correct patient EMRs. Please continue to promptly report any events when discovered so they can be quickly addressed. 

Giving Discharge Paperwork to the Wrong Patients 

Patients have mailed back discharge paperwork received at discharge that belonged to other patients. These events typically result in policy violations. Additionally, applicable ED management and ELR are notified for potential improvements and consideration of corrective action steps. 

Recommended Preventive Action: Please ensure all discharge paperwork belongs to the correct patient before giving the paperwork out at discharge. 

Of course, mistakes can happen. Please continue to be vigilant about patient information, properly dispose of paper with patient information on it, and report events when you discover them. Thank you for all you do to support UC Davis Health.