Viewers of Le’s records may be fired
Viewers of Le’s records may be fired
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The employees who illegally accessed the private medical records of murdered Yale pharmacology graduate student Annie Le GRD ’13 may lose their jobs, Yale University Health Services Director Paul Genecin said Tuesday.
Shortly after Le was declared a missing person, several YUHS employees improperly viewed her records, University President Richard Levin said Monday. When the records were sealed soon after, an electronic audit found traces of the security breach.
“We do not tolerate breaches of privacy,” Genecin said in a phone interview. “Consequences range up to and can include termination.”
There have been no previous breaches of health records since the electronic filing system was created five years ago, Genecin said. YUHS administrators constantly audit health records for signs of unauthorized access on both a random and a systematic basis, Genecin said. Whenever someone with a Yale health record is a public figure or is mentioned in the media, Genecin said, that record is given special attention for auditing. Genecin said YUHS has a “rolling system” for monitoring its records, meaning there is always an audit in progress.
Genecin added that YUHS employees are trained repeatedly about the ethical and legal issues regarding privacy restrictions and are allowed to access files only when it is absolutely required for their jobs.
“Staff are extremely well-versed on the policy for looking into health records,” Genecin said.
Levin said Monday that an investigation into the breach is ongoing.
A YUHS employee said Monday that she had received an e-mail instructing YUHS employees not to talk to the media about the investigation. Five YUHS employees reached by phone Tuesday said they could not comment.
On Sept. 13, police discovered Le’s body hidden behind a basement wall at 10 Amistad St., the Yale research facility Le was last seen entering five days earlier. An autopsy report determined Le had been strangled to death. On Sept. 17, Raymond Clark III, a Yale animal lab technician who worked in the building with Le, was arrested and charged with the murder. Clark, who appeared in court Tuesday, did not enter a plea.
Comments
None 2 years, 7 months ago
Fire them! Along with the person who hired the killer!
RIP Annie LE!
None 2 years, 7 months ago
Yes, please fire these unscrupulous workers. Having known the rules that they flagrantly chose to violate means that you should throw the book at them. Thank God for electronic tracking and regular auditing. Fire these workers!
None 2 years, 7 months ago
Thanks to the electronic version of tracking system. In the "old days", this sort of violation of patients' privacy took place more often. I know of cases when employees gave themselves permission to look up records of patients/students as a show-off of "authority" and "privilege" they wrongfully abused. This news should send a shock wave throughout the entire spectrum of record keeping function in all organizations. There's a psychology behind of this: there's a sense of feel-good power that the staff have when they're given access to other people's records. The message should strong: respect other people's privacy or lose your job AND pay the penalty!
None 2 years, 7 months ago
I would like to pose a hypothetical question to the editors and reporters of the Yale Daily News. I agree that unauthorized access to Ms.Le and or Mr. Clark's records is an aggredious breach of privacy and is both a legal and moral issue. I wonder if there had been some information of interest which was then "leaked to you" would you or another news organization have published it as coming from a knowlegable but anonymous source? I wonder???
None 2 years, 7 months ago
not every-one was fired from looking into the files. The union is protection some. making bargains.....
University employees are trying to hold onto our jobs, cut them lose and let us work
None 2 years, 4 months ago
Paul, Colin, are you really going to let this story disappear?
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