At least one Pacific Northwest hospital is getting private medical details of patients who do not seek care there – without those patients’ permission – in what may be a violation of federal laws, according to documents obtained by The Lund Report.
And the situation may extend far beyond the PeaceHealth-owned hospital where these privacy breaches have been documented.
Documents show that when at least one doctor left PeaceHealth St. Johns Medical Center in Longview, Washington, officials at PeaceHealth did not “disassociate” from that physician in an online tool that is widely used within the industry. As a result, when the doctor joined an unrelated clinic, PeaceHealth St. Johns officials could access the records of the doctor’s new patients – without the permission of the doctor or his patients.
CoverMyMeds said that it takes privacy seriously, and that the error appears to reflect incorrect use of its services by PeaceHealth. PeaceHealth did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
