Former Florida Hospital Employee Faces Conspiracy Charges Related to Patient Records

A former Florida Hospital employee is facing federal charges for allegedly accessing patient records in a scheme to solicit referrals, according to an Orlando Sentinel report.

Dale Munroe worked in the emergency department at Florida Hospital's location in Celebration, but he allegedly accessed patient records from other sites within the Florida Hospital system. An FBI affidavit showed Mr. Munroe accessed more than 763,000 patient records from 2009 through the third quarter of 2011. Comparatively, a typical hospital employee would access about 12,000 records in that time span.

Officials said Mr. Munroe's alleged reviews of patient records focused on those who had been involved in automobile accidents. He allegedly reviewed more than 12,000 records "in detail," according to the report.

Some of those patients received phone calls within a week of their hospital stay. Callers allegedly knew specifics about the car accidents and treatment the patients had received. Authorities claimed Mr. Munroe would access a patient record then have a person identified as "S.K." call the patient to offer him/her a referral for a lawyer or chiropractor.

The FBI also identified payments from S.K. to Mr. Munroe, as well as between their wives. Mr. Munroe told the FBI those payments were loans or compensation for cleaning services. He also said he could "not explain" accessing the patient records, according to the report.

More Articles on Hospitals and Patient Records:

Former Harris County Hospital District Employee Allegedly Sold Patient Information as Part of Medicare Kickback Scheme
Data on 600 Patients Stolen From Temple Community Hospital in Los Angeles
Cancer Care Group Data Breach Exposes Nearly 55,000 Patients


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