Island Health is looking for new ways to increase the security of its data base after firing staff for the second time in less than a month for breaching patient privacy.
The IslandB次元官网网址檚 health authority revealed July 8 that a support staff employee working in the Victoria area was let go after browsing the confidential records of nearly three-dozen Vancouver Island residents.
Coming in the wake of the largest breach in the organizationB次元官网网址檚 history in June, Island Health CEO Brendan Carr issued a public apology and a pledge to do better.
B次元官网网址淭his is a very serious issue for us,B次元官网网址� he said, calling the situation a gross breach of patient and public trust. B次元官网网址淲e have to do better and there are things we can do.B次元官网网址�
Access to patient records is designed to be available only to those workers who need it in order to do their jobs. Carr said the sanctity of patient privacy is drilled into all such employees before he or she is given a password to access the system.
Once in the system, the employees must register and specify their relationship to the patient before opening any individualB次元官网网址檚 file. The recent violators were able to access restricted files by lying about relationships.
B次元官网网址淚t isnB次元官网网址檛 failsafe. Somebody can misrepresent themself,B次元官网网址� Carr said. B次元官网网址淲e rely on professionalism and honesty.B次元官网网址�
That said, once the false information is entered, it remains in the system and is subject to review.
An auditing program tracks who has accessed what and flags any potentially unusual interactions for further investigation. It was this process that flagged the latest violator, who was let go after an investigation tracking back to January of 2015 found 34 instances of records improperly accessed.
Carr said the health authority is looking at adding more triggers to the flagging process, things like people checking through records of people with the same last names, or accessing the system at certain times.
The individual responsible for the latest breach had been an employee for about 15 years, and was not a nurse nor a member of the medical staff. Island Health is in the process of informing those residents whose records were accessed about what happened.
In revealed on June 14, two other support staff workers were caught under similar circumstances after snooping into the records of 198 people, including family friends, co-workers and celebrities. It followed the revelation in the spring of 2015 of a central Island staffer who looked through the records of 39 people, and a fall 2014 revelation that two nurses accessed the personal info of another 112 individuals. The violators in all these instances were fired.
B次元官网网址淭here doesnB次元官网网址檛 appear to be any real motivation other than curiosity,B次元官网网址� Carr said.
Given staff knowledge that a deliberate privacy breach of this nature will likely lead to a firing, and the ease of being caught, the CEO is surprised that anyone would take the risk. More troubling for him, however, is the breach of patient trust.
B次元官网网址淚 honestly canB次元官网网址檛 understand it. This is fundamental to who we are as an organization. People have to be able to trust us.B次元官网网址�
At the same time, he points out that Island Health has about 19,000 employees and processes about 4,500 patients a day. While the recent instances are significant, he does not believe snooping is endemic.
Carr said patients deserve better.
B次元官网网址淥ur employees know itB次元官网网址檚 wrong to look at the private health information of patients when they have no legitimate reason to do so,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t saddens and disappoints me that the actions of a very, very small minority of our 19,000 staff violate the values and high ethical standards we all work towards.
For more information on Island Health privacy policies, click .
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