Federal prosecutors in South Florida have charged more than 100 individuals with identity theft, including a former secretary at Jackson Health System.
Evelina Sophia Reid, an employee at Jackson Health since 2005, allegedly stole approximately 24,000 patient records from the hospital’s computer over a five-year period and gave the information to co-conspirators who filed fraudulent tax returns, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. All told, prosecutors filed 81 separate cases involving identity theft that cost individuals, businesses and government agencies an estimated $60 million.
Surveys show medical identity theft has increased over the last several years, and hospitals are spending more on prevention. A recent report from the Identity Theft Resource Center identified 377 data breach incidents in the healthcare industry during 2016, accounting for more than one-third of breaches across all industries.
During a press conference announcing the charges, U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer called South Florida the “epicenter of identity fraud,” according to the Miami Herald. Ferrer also called on hospitals to improve protection measures for patient information.
“They need to have robust safeguards to make sure this type of information is not so easily accessible,” he said. “What we have seen over and over again is that way too many employees have access to this information.”
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A spokeswoman for Jackson Health told the newspaper that the system had upgraded its information systems but declined to offer specifics “so as to not risk compromising their effectiveness.”
Human error has been a leading factor behind healthcare data breaches, and representatives with the Office of Civil Rights have said theft/loss make up the highest percentage of reported breaches.