Titus Regional Medical Center Data Breach (2011)

A nurse has been fired by a Texas hospital after accessing information on patients for whom she had no clinical responsibility, according to the Mt. Pleasant, TX Daily Tribune. The hospital, Titus Regional Medical Center, reportedly discovered the unauthorized access in the course of an audit in November. The nurse admitted to looking at the records out of curiosity but insisted that no records had been further disclosed. The hospital decided to notify 108 patients in a letter which warned them of a slight risk of identity theft. The hospital administrator indicated that the notices may not be required under HIPAA but were being sent out of an abundance of caution, and emphasized that there was no evidence any data was printed nor disclosed to any third parties. Although most records accessed did not contain social security numbers, affected patients were nevertheless advised to contact the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.