Hundreds of Manitobans had personal medical information inappropriately accessed over an eight-month period ending in March, Shared Health says.
A total of 360 patients were contacted earlier this week, the provincial health authority said, letting them know their records had been accessed. The patients were contacted as part of an investigation into breaches by a clinical staff member at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.
Manitoba’s ombudsman has been made aware of the breach, and Shared Health’s chief privacy officer said the person responsible is no longer employed there.
“Shared Health takes the safety and security of patients’ personal information very seriously, with a number of protocols in place to detect inappropriate access of private patient information,” Christina Von Schindler said in a statement Friday.
“It is deeply regrettable that patient privacy was breached. In this case, the protocols were effective, with the snooping detected, investigated and the individual responsible held accountable for their actions.”
Von Schindler said all Shared Health staff complete mandatory confidentiality training and their use of electronic health records is regularly audited.
Affected patients have been given information on how to reach out to the privacy office to discuss the breach.
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