In a notice to patients, St. Francis said employees started reporting concerns in late July regarding bills they received for unpaid balances for a prescription cream. An investigation into the concerns discovered a fellow employee had “caused potentially fraudulent charges to be billed to the other employee’s insurance plans,” according to the health system.
St. Francis then initiated further investigations to assess the employee’s access to patient medical records. The investigation found from Jan. 1, 2014 to Aug. 12, 2015, the employee accessed patient medical records “in a manner that was inconsistent with her job functions, hospital procedures and the training that this employee received regarding the appropriate access of patients’ medical records,” according to the health system.
Compromised information includes patient names, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, insurance information, clinical information and potentially Social Security numbers.
A Greenville Online report indicates fewer than 30 employees and nearly 2,000 patients are affected by this data breach.
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