Chatham-Kent’s hospital is reporting a significant privacy breach after the health records of over 100 patients were “inappropriately accessed.”
During a recent routine audit of electronic health records, the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) said it discovered that two employees accessed the records of around 120 patients for no apparent valid reason.
CKHA said hospital officials conducted an investigation and, based on the lack of pattern to the records being inappropriately accessed, found that these were cases of “random snooping.”
“CKHA is committed to patient-centred care and preserving patients’ trust in the care they are receiving and the staff providing that care,” said Lori Marshall, CKHA’s president and CEO, in a news release. “We regret that these privacy breaches happened. We will continue the routine auditing of patient electronic health records.”
The hospital confirmed that the two employees responsible did not copy or print any of the health records. CKHA added that “snooping is unacceptable and the employees no longer work for CKHA.”
CKHA said it has notified the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario of the privacy breaches and hospital officials have contacted the affected patients by email.