Toula Mazloum reports:
Three former hospital employees have been charged following investigations into unrelated alleged breach of patient privacy incidents that took place over the course of last year in different parts of the province, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
The investigations started after police received three complaints in western, eastern and northern Ontario, alleging three hospital employees had inappropriately accessed electronic personal health records of patients.
The OPP did not release the names of the hospitals.
Read more at CTV.
Usually, when there is insider-wrongdoing of this kind, hospitals either handle it internally or refer the matter to the appropriate professional licensing board. That these three individuals have been charged under PHIPA is a bit unusual. Was there any indication that information was being accessed to commit fraud or for any malignant purpose or is Ontario just trying to send a strong message about PHIPA compliance?