The following is a press release:
Asante announced today that it is notifying individuals related to a privacy incident involving certain patient information.
On July 13, 2016, Asante determined that an employee had inappropriately accessed certain electronic patient records. Asante immediately began an investigation related to this incident and the specific employee, which was completed on July 21, 2016. A final audit of the employee’s actions showed that the employee inappropriately accessed records from August 18, 2014 to July 21, 2016 that may have included patient name, date of birth, medical record number, medications, diagnosis, and lab results. The inappropriately accessed information did not contain patient Social Security numbers or other financial or account information.
To date, Asante has no evidence that any patient information has been misused, nor does it have any reason to believe that the information will be misused in the future. Asante regrets any concern this incident may cause, and is taking this matter very seriously. To help prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future, Asante is implementing mandatory re-education of workforce members on appropriate access to protected health information and will continue to audit employee access to patient information.
Asante began mailing letters to affected individuals on September 9, 2016, and has established a dedicated call center to answer any questions. For additional information about this incident, please visit the Asante website at www.asante.org .
Asante is a nonprofit health system providing comprehensive medical care to residents throughout southern Oregon and northern California. For additional information about Asante, please visit www.asante.org.
SOURCE Asante