Information Breach Affects Thousands of Alberta Patients
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EDMONTON – Just under 13,000 Albertans are being notified after Alberta Health Services found a former employee had inappropriately accessed patient information.
A look-back audit process was initially prompted after a complaint from another AHS employee. It’s alleged that the incidents happened between January 2004 and July 2015 through the electronic record systems, Netcare and Netcare Personal Directory. It has since been reported to Alberta Health and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.
AHS stated in a media release on Monday (Sep. 26), that 1,309 patients had their health information accessed while another 11,539 had their demographic information viewed. However, it assures that no patient information has been altered.
Those impacted will be notified by mail within the next five to seven business days. The letter will contain a call-in line through Health Link for those who want more information, and for those who want a full audit log of accesses to their Netcare records.
Only those affected will be notified by AHS.
“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,” noted Dr. Francois Belanger, AHS Interim Vice President – Quality and Chief Medical Officer. “We take privacy incidents very seriously, and continue to work with our employees to ensure they’re supported with privacy education and regular communication.”
