Wayne Memorial employee fired for accessing patient records

Posted 8/21/12

HONESDALE, PA — Wayne Memorial Hospital (WMH) officials announced on January 29 that they have terminated an employee for accessing patient records. CEO David Hoff said, “We have terminated a …

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Wayne Memorial employee fired for accessing patient records

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HONESDALE, PA — Wayne Memorial Hospital (WMH) officials announced on January 29 that they have terminated an employee for accessing patient records. CEO David Hoff said, “We have terminated a nurse’s aide who accessed patient records without authorization, and we have reported the incident to the police, who are investigating the matter.”

Hoff confirmed letters have been sent to 390 individuals informing them their medical records may have been exposed, and some of those records may have included Social Security numbers, diagnoses and insurance information. Those whose Social Security numbers may have been exposed have been offered a free one-year membership in a credit monitoring service.

Hoff added, however, that WMH at this time “has no information that the nurse’s aide accessed the information for any malicious purposes or inappropriately used or disclosed any information.”

Hospital officials say the unauthorized access was discovered on December 8, 2015, when another employee called with a privacy concern. WMH immediately launched a forensic review of files accessed by the nurse’s aide, interviewed the aide and subsequently fired the aide. The aide’s name is not being released.

Hoff noted that the employee had been trained in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

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