Employee who diverted patient blood samples, stole PHI fired, Florida medical group says

Jackie Drees -

Orlando, Fla.-based DNF Medical Centers said it has fired an employee who diverted blood samples for testing from the proper medical testing labs to another laboratory. 

DNF reported the breach April 15 to HHS as affecting 846 individuals. 

In an April 12 DNF website notice, the medical center said it discovered Feb. 18 that the fired employee had been diverting the blood samples, along with patient data sheets that contained protected health information, including names, addresses, healthcare providers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. 

DNF said it investigated the incident and terminated the employee. It said many of the blood tests were completed and the results had been returned, but it is concerned in some cases that the results are not reliable.

The medical center said it is reaching out to any patients who need to redo blood tests because of the incident and will be providing the tests free of charge. 

"While this action was not DNF Medical Center’s fault, it also certainly wasn’t your fault, and we don’t want to put you in any financial inconvenience because of this incident," DNF Medical Center said in its online notice. 

 

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