UCHealth, Colorado is notifying approximately 800 patients of an internal healthcare data breach. According to the reports, an employee inappropriately accessed electronic patient files. The incident was discovered during one of the hospital’s precautionary HIPAA audits.
The auditors discovered the breach and determined that the employee was accessing electronic patient records out of personal curiosity. There is no reason to believe that the employee has shared the accessed information with anyone else.
Affected information includes patient names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, insurance information, and descriptions of care and treatment plans received during visits. The employee did not access Social Security numbers
UCHealth and Data Breach
or other financial and billing information.
According to the statement:
UCHealth takes its obligations to protect healthcare information very seriously. This staff member’s employment with UCHealth has been terminated. Re-training has been given to all employees to re-emphasize that staff can only view health records of patients for whom they are actively providing care. All employees also will continue to receive annual training on how to properly access healthcare information.
About UCHealth
UCHealth is a Front Range health system that delivers the highest quality patient care with the highest quality patient experience. UCHealth combines Memorial Hospital, Poudre Valley Hospital, Medical Center of the Rockies, Colorado Health Medical Group, and University of Colorado Hospital into an organization dedicated to health and providing unmatched patient care in the Rocky Mountain West.
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