Hospital record firm under probe ‘sold twice’
The Data Protection Commissioner has confirmed ownership of UScribe changed hands twice between 2009 and this year.
However, despite this, a total of 61 hospitals and individual doctors in Ireland whose patient records were typed up by this company were not told of the management alterations.
The Data Protection Commissioner has confirmed that UScribe was taken over by Health Office in 2009, with ownership then reverting to UScribe earlier this year.
This issue is playing a central role in the ongoing investigation into how patient records — including some with the names, dates of birth, addresses, contact details and medical conditions/histories — were accessed by unauthorised individuals while out-sourced to the Philippines for transcription.
Currently, Tallaght Hospital is the only facility to have confirmed a data breach. However, up to nine other public hospitals in this country also used the service, in addition to more than 50 individual doctors.
The Data Protection Commissioner investigation — which is being supported by the National Bureau of Investigations in the Philippines and the British Information Commissioner — is examining whether any clients other than Tallaght have been affected, meaning more patients could be open to fraud.
The ownership change information came after police in the Philippines seized the entire office of a company linked to the Irish patient records scandal in a court-ordered move.
They have been given until September 7 to find evidence that private information was used for fraud. The step took place in conjunction with the gardaí, Tallaght IT director and the office of the British information commissioner.
The investigation was given the go-ahead after it emerged that highly sensitive patient records from the facility had fallen into “inappropriate hands”.
The records include the names, dates of birth, addresses, contact details and medical histories/conditions of patients since 2004.
They were obtained after being sent as audio files to online private transcription firm UScribe. In the wrong hands, this information can be used to defraud the individuals in question.
