The hospital said it has notified all patients whose privacy was breached by the indicted woman, Lawanda Jackson, and it has updated its systems to block complete Social Security numbers from its main clinical systems. It also has initiated new training on privacy for all staff and is enhancing security in its records systems.
"We have no excuses," Dr. David Feinberg, chief executive of the UCLA Health System, said in a statement. "UCLA should have detected the violations by Ms. Jackson years ago and should have immediately initiated the process to dismiss her."
Feinberg said the medical center continues to investigate.
"All other employees who were found to have violated patient confidentiality during our review have been disciplined, including some who have been terminated," he said. "On behalf of the entire leadership of the UCLA Health System, I am deeply sorry for this failure, and the personal distress these breaches may have caused."
Of the 59 employees newly linked to the breaches, 24 still worked at UCLA when they were identified, the state said. The hospital has proposed firing seven, suspending six for two to three weeks each and providing verbal or written warnings to eight others, the latest report says. Three remain under investigation.
In part because of the breaches, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed legislation that would impose penalties on hospitals and healthcare workers for breaching patient privacy.
"Californians have every right to expect their medical records to be safeguarded and protected, and I am alarmed about repeated violations of patient confidentiality and the potential harm to the citizens of this state," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "By putting financial penalties in place for those employees and facilities that do not follow these laws, this legislation will lead to better care for all Californians."
Under the legislation, being carried by Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) and Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento), healthcare workers who unlawfully view patient records would be fined from $1,000 to $250,000, depending on the seriousness of the violation. Hospitals and other health facilities would face fines of $25,000 to $250,000 for similar violations.
The legislation also would increase penalties for hospitals found to have put patients in jeopardy of harm or death, to $100,000 from $25,000.
