An employee at Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare inappropriately accessed 1,600 patient records from December 2020 to December 2021.
On Aug. 24, the Labor Department notified the health system that one of its employees had been involved in a data privacy incident and disclosed several hundred patients' demographic information to individuals involved in unemployment benefits fraud, according to a Dec. 6 news release from the health system.
On Nov. 30, the Justice Department arrested the former Emory Healthcare employee in connection with the fraud scheme.
Emory Healthcare said the individual had access to patient files that contained information such as names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers.
The health system said it found no indication any medical histories, tests and laboratory results, diagnosis and treatment plans, or insurance information were involved in the breach.
Emory has since terminated the employee and is notifying the patients whose records were accessed during the breach.