Following a 10-month investigation, the FBI has arrested a former employee of Florida Hospital Celebration Health for accessing patients’ emergency department records and selling them to a solicitor for attorneys and chiropractors, WFTV reports (WFTV, 8/17).
Details of Breach
Dale Munroe — who registered ED patients at Celebration Health — allegedly accessed the files of patients who were treated for injuries resulting from automobile accidents at multiple hospitals across the state, according to the FBI investigation (Goedert, Health Data Management, 8/22).
According to the complaint in U.S.A. v. Munroe, Munroe accessed about 763,000 patient records from late 2009 through mid-2011. The complaint stated that Munroe sold the information to firms that then contacted the patients and asked if they needed a referral to a lawyer or chiropractor.
Munroe and his wife allegedly were paid approximately $10,000 for information from the records.
Hospital, Authorities Respond
The hospital fired Munroe in July 2011 after officials discovered that he had improperly accessed the file of a physician who had been killed.
However, his wife and another hospital employee continued accessing patient records after Munroe’s firing.
Officials discovered the scheme in August 2011 when a hospital employee received a solicitation call and reported the issue to the hospital.
The hospital then:
The FBI started investigating the incident after the hospital reported the data breach to HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (Health Data Management, 8/22).
Source: iHealthBeat
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