A data breach at health care provider Nebraska Medicine came to light during an internal audit of the system’s electronic medical record system. The hospital notified the Nebraska Attorney General’s office on November 27, and notified affected patients on December 2.
The breach involves unauthorized access by an employee, who accessed patient records outside of the scope of his or her job duties. According to hospital officials, the employee who accessed the records was fired the day after the breach was discovered.
In a letter to patients, the health care provider stated: “Once Nebraska Medicine became aware of the incident, our staff took action to investigate, prevent further improper access, and to notify affected patients. We have no reason to believe the information accessed has been or will be misused. In cases where the Social Security number or driver’s license was accessible, we are offering credit monitoring for a full year, at no cost to the affected patients.”
The number of affected patients isn’t yet known.