Info breach at Sask. Cancer Agency 'not acceptable': privacy commissioner

Firing should be considered, in extreme cases,for health employees who inappropriately access patients'confidential information, privacy commissioner Ron Kruzeniski says.

Kruzeniski was reacting to the information breach revealed Monday by the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.

• Sask. Cancer Agency employees may have snooped on 48 patients

The agency saystwo employees looked uppatient information on48 people, even though it had nothing to do with their jobs. They have been disciplined, but the cancer agency refused to say what that entailed.

Both employees are still working for the agency, which operates cancer treatment facilities in Regina and Saskatoon.

The information they accessed includedeverything from the names of doctors to results of medicaltests.

Kruzeniski isnot calling for the employees to be fired, butsays he isdisappointed to hear this problem continues in the Saskatchewan health-care system.

"A breach has happened again," he said. "This is just not acceptable."

Whether it'sidle curiosity, angryex-partnersorconcerned family members who don't fullyrealize what they're doing, such violations of patient privacymust be stopped, he said.

"In extreme cases, I think the firing option should be strongly considered," he said.

Kruzeniski recommends that health agencies have more training and a refresher course to explain to employees what information they shouldand shouldn'thave access to.

Also important is arequirement for mandatory reporting to the privacy commissioner's office when such breach occurs.

But "ramping up discipline" is also important, he said.

The provincial government has legislation in the pipeline that would makesnooping in health records a specific offence.

It's expected the anti-snooping section will be proclaimed into law in the fall, Kruzeniski said.