Employee error source of Pa. breach

An employee’s actions compromised the protected health information of 1,801 people at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

A clinical laboratory technician working with the protected data had entered data into a test log from his home using systems and devices outside the secured Penn State Hershey system. The test log contained information specifically related to a type of test ordered by Penn State Hershey women’s health or family medicine clinicians, as well as other medical practitioners in the community who used Penn State Hershey laboratories for testing, between Aug.1, 2013 and March 26, 2014.

Compromised data included patient names, medical record numbers, name of lab test, visit dates and test results, according to the center.

The health center reported that an extensive internal investigation gave no evidence that any unauthorized person actually viewed or accessed this protected health information as a result of the employee’s activity, but is alerting the patients nonetheless “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a public notice.