Sun Country Health Region (SCHR) sent letters of apology to 66 patients on January 31 after discovering their right to privacy was breached. Privacy and the protection of patient/client/resident information are two issues that are taken very seriously by the Health Region.
SCHR discovered in June 2010 that one of its employees improperly reviewed the electronic prescription records of the 66 patients between March 2009 and January 2010. The Region has conducted an extensive investigation to determine the facts of the situation and is preparing a report for the Saskatchewan Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
The records were accessed through the Pharmaceutical Information Program (PIP). PIP is an electronic system of prescription records for authorized health care providers to use when providing health care to clients.
The system has a built-in method of allowing employers to watch for possible inappropriate use. SCHR can determine which of its employees looks for information about what patients, when and why.
When an information search is inappropriate, it is deemed to be in violation of the Saskatchewan Health Information Protection Act.
As soon as the breach was discovered, SCHR immediately disabled the electronic account of the individual who committed the breach and conducted an extensive investigation.
As a result, the following corrective actions are being taken: SCHR has undertaken disciplinary action against this staff member; the Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner has been informed of the breach and will receive a copy of SCHR's investigative report; privacy policies and related staff education procedures are being reviewed; and SCHR will increase its auditing of employee usage of the PIP program.
SCHR sincerely apologizes for any difficulties this incident may cause these patients or their families.
SCHR considers the protection of personal health information as a matter of the utmost importance. SCHR is confident that the steps taken will reduce the risk of such an incident occurring in the future.
