The California Department of State Hospitals recently discovered additional protected health information that had been improperly accessed through an employee data breach, according to a May 11 news release.
This department in February discovered an employee who had access to Atascadero (Calif.) State Hospital data servers as part of their IT job responsibilities had improperly viewed the PHI of about 1,415 patients and 617 employees. Last month, the department said it found out that the breach actually involved an additional 2,952 individuals affected.
In the May 11 news release, the department said further data involved in the same breach had been discovered. This newly uncovered breached data included addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates and driver's license numbers of 80 individuals; birth dates and last four digits of Social Security numbers for 20 individuals; immigration data of 38 individuals; and health data related to employment of 81 individuals who are either employees, former employees or department applicants.
The department is continuing to investigate the breach and has placed the employee on administrative leave until it is completed.