Alberta Health Services investigating how almost 13,000 patient files were inappropriately accessed

Sep 27 2016, 3:10 am

Alberta Health Services is notifying 1,309 Albertans that their health information was inappropriately accessed by a former AHS employee.

In addition to the 1,309 inappropriately accessed files, 11,539 individuals will also be notified that their demographic information was viewed by this same former employee.

Alberta residents should keep an eye out as AHS sent out notifications to affected patients on Monday, September 26. Patients who have been effected by the breach should receive their letter in five to seven business days.

The inappropriate access happened between January 2004 and July 2015 via the electronic health record systems, Netcare and Netcare Personal Directory. AHS says it was first alerted to potential inappropriate accesses by complaint from another AHS employee, which triggered a look-back audit process into all accesses made by this former employee.

The Alberta Health Services says the accuracy of the breached patient records has not been altered or impacted.

“The protection of patient privacy is not only a legislated duty of our employees, it’s part of our patient-first culture, and our values,” said Dr. Francois Belanger, AHS Interim Vice President – Quality and Chief Medical Officer in a statement. “We take privacy incidents very seriously, and continue to work with our employees to ensure they’re supported with privacy education and regular communication.”

Impacted individuals have been given a call-in line which is included in their notification letters.

DH Calgary StaffDH Calgary Staff

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