The assistant police chief from Pennsylvania's Monroeville municipality has filed a complaint, claiming University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Monroeville and a former police chief violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.
Assistant Chief Steven Pascarella filed the complaint in August, claiming information about ambulance dispatches was sent to paramedics and George Polnar, the municipality's former police chief, even though Mr. Polnar was not an active first responder.
Mr. Polnar retired in January 2010. He now serves as manager of security and parking at UPMC East in Monroeville. Since his retirement, he has continued receiving email alerts multiple times per day on his personal cell phone about ambulance calls dispatched by the municipal 911 center, according to the report.
The complaint alleges that Mr. Polnar forwarded protected information to a third party in August 2012. He allegedly forwarded an email to a friend about a medical emergency at her neighbor's home, and the message included the individual's age, sex and address.
Since the complaint was filed, Monroeville has restructured its paging system. The municipality eliminated five to 10 people from the list of recipients, including Mr. Polnar and other retirees, but there is no written policy governing who is on the list, according to the report.
UPMC declined to comment on the complaint, according to the report.
Editor's note: This story was modified, as an earlier version reported the complaint as a lawsuit. It is a federal complaint through the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service.
CMS Violated Data Breach Notification Requirements From 2009-2011, OIG Audit Finds
Anthem Blue Cross to Pay $150k Over Data Breach Allegations
Assistant Chief Steven Pascarella filed the complaint in August, claiming information about ambulance dispatches was sent to paramedics and George Polnar, the municipality's former police chief, even though Mr. Polnar was not an active first responder.
Mr. Polnar retired in January 2010. He now serves as manager of security and parking at UPMC East in Monroeville. Since his retirement, he has continued receiving email alerts multiple times per day on his personal cell phone about ambulance calls dispatched by the municipal 911 center, according to the report.
The complaint alleges that Mr. Polnar forwarded protected information to a third party in August 2012. He allegedly forwarded an email to a friend about a medical emergency at her neighbor's home, and the message included the individual's age, sex and address.
Since the complaint was filed, Monroeville has restructured its paging system. The municipality eliminated five to 10 people from the list of recipients, including Mr. Polnar and other retirees, but there is no written policy governing who is on the list, according to the report.
UPMC declined to comment on the complaint, according to the report.
Editor's note: This story was modified, as an earlier version reported the complaint as a lawsuit. It is a federal complaint through the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service.
More Articles on HIPAA:
7 Steps for Hospitals to Run Effective HIPAA Risk AssessmentsCMS Violated Data Breach Notification Requirements From 2009-2011, OIG Audit Finds
Anthem Blue Cross to Pay $150k Over Data Breach Allegations