Alberta sees increase in abandoned health records

EDMONTON – Alberta is seeing an increase in abandoned health records alongside an “alarming” trend of “snooping” employees misusing health information for unauthorized purposes, according to the latest annual report by the province’s privacy commissioner.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) tabled its 2023-2024 report, highlighting key issues and trends regarding breaches of the Health Information Act.

“An alarming trend that we have seen over the past several years involves snooping by employees of custodians in health information systems and use of health information for unauthorized purposes. In 2022-23 and 2023-24, fourteen breaches were reported to my office that were referred to the Investigations team to investigate as potential offences under HIA. These breaches involve 11 employees of custodians and affect over 4,000 Albertans whose health records were inappropriately accessed,” privacy commissioner Diane McLeod (pictured) writes in the report.

The document highlights two employees of individual health custodians who submitted 500 false COVID-19 vaccination records into the public healthcare information system. As well, the report refers to an individual who profited from health records by charging illegitimate fees to patients.

On another front, the privacy commissioner identified a festering problem with abandoned health records – records that are left in limbo when clinicians leave their practices. In particular, the report cites 14 physicians who abandoned their health records at an Edmonton medical clinic.

“It is very concerning that healthcare providers would simply walk away from their offices leaving records behind, in one case in the thousands,” McLeod said in her report.

“We know that there are likely many more cases of records being abandoned that we are unaware of, including those involving electronic health records.”

McLeod said in her report that the Health Information Act (HIA) currently authorizes the disclosure or transfer of health records from one custodian (physicians, chiropractors, nurses, Alberta Health Services, and Alberta Health) to another, but does not mandate it.

The report said records are often left on the premises of commercial landlords, prompting questions about their responsibility when it comes to patient records.

In one case, in April 2023, a box of patient health records was found near a dumpster at a building in Calgary. Later, an entire storage space with 59 boxes of abandoned patient records was discovered in the same building.

In July 2023, a property management company reported abandoned records from a former multidisciplinary medical facility in Edmonton. The physicians had left the building and left thousands of health records and medical equipment behind.

Alberta NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman said the government needs to take the report seriously and ensure the commissioner has the tools necessary to protect people’s privacy.

“Accessing anyone’s personal private information is wrong. Nobody should be breaching anyone’s trust, and when it comes to your health records, that’s some of the most private information for any Albertan,” Hoffman said.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said the government will work with the OIPC and other stakeholders to improve processes and strengthen the HIA. When asked if she would implement the recommendation to impose monetary penalties, she said the government would “look at all our options.”