Wayne Memorial employee fired for privacy breach

HONESDALE — Wayne Memorial Hospital has terminated a nurse’s aide who accessed patient records without authorization, said CEO David Hoff.

"We take our patients’ privacy very seriously,” said Hoff.

The hospital reported the incident to the police, who are investigating the matter, he said.

He said the hospital has sent letters to 390 individuals informing them their medical records may have been exposed, and that some of those records may have included Social Security numbers, diagnoses, and insurance information.

All those whose Social Security numbers may have been exposed have been offered a free one-year membership in a credit monitoring service.

Hoff added that Wayne Memorial 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 Dec. 8, 2015, when another employee called with a privacy concern. Wayne Memorial then 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 terminated employee had been trained in HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the federal law that governs patient privacy. In addition, every employee is reminded on a regular basis about privacy concerns via a hospital-wide email called “HIPAA Tuesdays,” which often details examples of non-compliance.

“This incident has prompted us to further review all levels of employee access to patient medical records, to enhance our HIPAA training for all employees and to research software programs that might help us better detect unauthorized access," said Hoff.

While patient records must be open to certain clinical personnel to assure proper treatment and care, Hoff said the hospital is considering expanding restrictions for particular groups of employees.

“Wayne Memorial Hospital was one of the first in the region to implement electronic medical records, which help reduce the potential for human error and often accelerate diagnosis and treatment,” said Hoff. “We have been ahead of the technology curve, and I can assure you that we will do all that we can to make sure something like this does not happen again.”

At the same time, Hoff urged everyone to be vigilant about their personal information by regularly monitoring their own bank statements, credit card statements, insurance statements and Explanation of Benefits medical statements. Any unauthorized activities should be reported immediately to the appropriate authorities, including Wayne Memorial Hospital.

For more information call 570-253-8631.