13 South Carolina Hospital Employees Fired in 2017 Over Privacy Breaches
The Medical University of South Carolina fired 13 employees in 2017 after determining that they misused patient records.
The Post and Courier reports that there were a total of 58 privacy breaches during the year. Eleven were characterized as employees snooping, sometimes on high profile patients.
MUSC spokeswoman Heather Woolwine said that some of the other breaches were accidental — such as faxing information to the wrong clinic.
She said MUSC has identified 307 breaches and fired 30 employees dating back to 2013, including the ones last year. None were physicians.
Training is required for any MUSC providers who have access to health records, including medical students. MUSC officials say they are investing more resources into training and communicating the importance of privacy.