Tewksbury Hospital which is based in Massachusetts recently found out that there was unauthorized EHR access. The incident may have potentially led to a data breach.
As per the statement by a former Tewksbury Hospital patient, the electronic medical record was accessed inappropriately by an unauthorized individual. After the investigation, a hospital found out that an employee may have accessed the data without proper justification.
It also found out that 1,000 other current and former patients information was accessed. Affected information included patient names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, gender, diagnoses, and other information regarding medical treatment.
The employee has been terminated by the facility. The person no longer has access to the hospital’s HER system. Tewksbury Hospital also mentioned that there is no evidence of information misuse.
Patients are notified of the current incident. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the Massachusetts Office for Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, and OCR are also notified.
“To reduce the chance of future incidents like this occurring, we are reviewing our policies regarding access to the electronic medical records system,” read a statement on the Massachusetts Health and Human Services website. “We are also reassessing how we review our workforce members’ use of the electronic medical records system, and we will be reviewing the training we provide to all workforce members regarding the privacy and security of confidential information.”
Affected individuals are encouraged to call toll free number for any further information about the incident. They can also take following steps –
- Request initial fraud alert
- Order a Credit Report and review the account (look for inquiries listed on the credit report from businesses that accessed your credit without a request)
- Request a security freeze
If you are affected by the data breach you have the right to file a police report and obtain a copy of it. Massachusetts law gives you right to obtain any police report filed in regards to the incident.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Alertsec helps you comply with HIPAA, PCI and SOX requirements.