VCU news

By Mike Porter

VCU Health System is notifying about 4,700 individuals that their or their minor child’s electronic health information was inappropriately accessed. There is no indication that the private health information has been or will be used for any malicious purposes.

The matter came to light on May 9, 2018, when an unusual pattern of accessing electronic health information was detected.

Following an investigation and review of access audit logs, the health system confirmed that an employee accessed, without legitimate business reasons, information about patients and services they received at the VCU Health System. As a result of this incident, the employee has been terminated.

The inappropriate access happened generally during the employee’s employment between Jan. 3, 2003 and May 10, 2018. The investigation indicated the electronic health information was viewed without malicious intent. However, it is the VCU Health System’s responsibility to notify affected patients that the incidents happened.

Information that may have been viewed includes the patients’ full names, home addresses, dates of birth, medical record numbers, health care providers, visit dates, health insurance information and other medical information. In some instances, Social Security numbers also could have been viewed.

VCU Health System is staffing a toll-free line for patient questions at (877) 846-9080, Mondays through Fridays, from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. The health system also is providing one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to assist patients whose Social Security numbers were accessed. Instructions have been provided to all affected patients for placing a fraud alert, freezing a credit file, obtaining a free credit report and protecting health information.