|
System of Records (SOR)
04VA115 - Blood Donor Information-VA
System location:
Blood Donor records are maintained at each of the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) health care facilities. Addresses are listed in
VA Appendix I of the biennial publication of Privacy Act Issuances.
Categories of individuals covered by the system:
Individuals who have donated blood to a Veterans Health
Administration (VHA) health care facility, blood bank, government or
private agencies to be issued for patient care under routine or
emergency conditions.
Categories of records in the system:
Blood donor records contain sufficient information (i.e., donor
name, social security number, date of donation, type of donation,
type of components produced by the donation, mandated tests results,
and disposition of the blood or blood component) to provide a
mechanism to track a donated blood product from the time of donor
registration through the final disposition of each component prepared
from that donation. VA maintains a record of the individual to whom
the blood or blood component was transfused and the medical facility
where the product was transfused and/or stored.
Authority for maintenance of the system:
- Title 38, United States Code, sections 501(a) and 501(b).
- Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, parts 200-299 and parts
600-680.
- Title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, section 493.1107.
Purpose(s):
The information and records are used to track the donor medical
history, donation interval(s), results of donor testing, report
positive or abnormal test results, and blood and/or blood components
produced from the donation.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including
categories of users and the purposes of such uses:
VA may disclose protected health information pursuant to the
following routine uses where required by law, or required or
permitted by 45 CFR parts 160 and 164.
- Disclosure may be made to answer requests for information from
Federal, State, local, and tribal medical facilities regarding the
source from which blood was received. Such requests may be initiated
by a qualified medical practitioner in the event that a donor's or
patient's medical condition warrants it.
- Disclosure may be made of blood availability, location,
quantity on hand, and blood type for use by the area donor collection
coordinators to answer and fill requests from health care facilities
in need of type-specific blood.
- VA may disclose on its own initiative any information in this
system, except the names and home addresses of veterans and their
dependents, which is relevant to a suspected or reasonably imminent
violation of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature and
whether arising by general or program statute or by regulation, rule
or order issued pursuant thereto, to a Federal, State, local, tribal,
or foreign agency charged with the responsibility of investigating or
prosecuting such violation, or charged with enforcing or implementing
the statute, regulation, rule or order. On its own initiative, VA may
also disclose the names and addresses of veterans and their
dependents to a Federal agency charged with the responsibility of
investigating or prosecuting civil, criminal or regulatory violations
of law, or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute,
regulation, rule or order issued pursuant thereto.
- Disclosure from a system of records maintained by this
component may be made to a Congressional office from the record of an
individual in response to an inquiry from the Congressional office
made at the request of that individual.
- A record from a system of records maintained by this component
may be disclosed as a routine use to the General Services
Administration for the purpose of records management inspections
conducted under authority of Title 44 United States Code.
- A record from a system of records maintained by this component
may be disclosed as a routine use to the National Archives and
Records Administration for the purpose of records management
inspections conducted under authority of title 44 United States Code.
- Disclosure of relevant information may be made to individuals,
organizations, private or public agencies, etc., with whom VA has a
contract or agreement to perform such services as VA may deem
practicable for the purposes of laws administered by VA, in order for
the contractor or subcontractor to perform the services of the
contract or agreement.
Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing,
retaining, and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
Paper documents, magnetic tape, disk.
Retrievability:
- All VA blood donor manual records are indexed by name and
social security number of donor, cross-indexed by blood type.
- Automated records are indexed by name, social security number,
blood type, antibodies and date of last donation.
Safeguards:
- Access to VA working space and medical record storage areas is
restricted to VA employees on a ``need to know'' basis. Generally, VA
file areas are locked after normal duty hours and are protected from
outside access by the Federal Protective Service. Employee file
records and file records of public figures or otherwise sensitive
medical record files are stored in separate locked files. Strict
control measures are enforced to ensure that disclosure is limited to
a ``need to know'' basis.
- Strict control measures are enforced to ensure that access to
and disclosure from all records including electronic files are
limited to VA employees whose official duties warrant access to those
files. The system recognizes authorized employees by a series of
individually-unique passwords/codes, and the employees are limited to
only that information in the file, which is needed in the performance
of their official duties.
Retention and disposal:
Records are maintained and disposed of in accordance with the
record disposition authority approved by the Archivist of the United
States, National Archives and Records Administration under the
National Archives Job No. N1-15-02-04.
System manager(s) and address:
Chief Consultant, Diagnostic Services, Strategic Healthcare Group
(SHG) (115), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20420.
Notification procedure:
Individuals seeking information concerning the existence and/or
content of a blood donor information record pertaining to themselves
must submit a written request or apply in person to the VA health
care facility where the donation occurred. All inquiries must
reasonably identify the portion of the blood donor information record
desired and the approximate date(s) that service was provided.
Additionally, inquiries should include the individual's full name,
social security number, and home address at the time of medical
service, if known.
Record access procedures:
Blood donors, patients of VA medical care facilities or duly
authorized representatives seeking information regarding access to or
who are contesting VA health facility records may write, call or
visit the VHA facility where medical service was provided or
volunteered.
Contesting record procedures:
(See Record Access Procedures above.)
Record source categories:
- The blood donor.
- Private hospitals and local blood banks.
- Private physicians.
- Non-VA Laboratories.
Back to Index
[back to top]
|
