UCLA keeps having to admit that its medical records snooping problem is worse than it previously appeared. In August, the university medical center admitted that 939 patients had had their records improperly accessed. Now as the state investigation is concluding, they say the grand total was 1,041. The number of workers implicated has also gone up, from 127 to 165.
UCLA says that they have instituted several policies to try to prevent workers from snooping on records of high-profile patients like California first lady Maria Shriver, singer Britney Spears, and actress Farrah Fawcett. These new policies include periodic reviews of employees who have access to patient records, and requiring employees to give a reason why they are accessing records as they do so.
Still, when an institution cares for patients with such prominence, maybe some additional health IT protocols unique to such hospitals become necessary. (Call it the "celeb IT treatment.")
To learn more about this problem:
- Read this Los Angeles Times piece