Employee sacked after snooping patient EMR records

Cleveland-based University Hospitals recently notified nearly 700 patients of a HIPAA privacy breach after a staff member was caught snooping on confidential medical records. The employee was able to access patient records for almost three and a half years without the health system’s knowledge. The incident highlights the importance of auditing users and data to prevent unauthorized access to patient information. Employee snooping remains a top threat motivator for breaches in healthcare IT security. Over 41 million individuals have had their protected health information compromised in HIPAA breaches.