Several health professionals have been sanctioned in the last year for having consulted hundreds of patients’ personal information without authorization, a sign that the phenomenon is increasing since the arrival of digital records.
• Also read: A nurse removed for searching through 863 personal files more than 7,000 times in Sainte-Justine
“It takes better awareness, so that the message gets across, and more severe sanctions,” advocates cybersecurity expert Steve Waterhouse.
He adds that “we will never know the extent” of illegal consultations of medical records, as long as there is no “increased surveillance” within the health network.
By email, the Order of Auxiliary Nurses of Quebec confirms having “noticed an increase in cases of unauthorized consultation of patients’ personal files” and having sent a reminder to its members about their responsibilities.
Digging through his ex’s file
In 2024, half a dozen professionals have been fined by their professional order, often for having consulted the files of ex-spouses or friends.
This is the case of nurse Isabelle Cyr in Quebec, who consulted confidential information from her ex-spouse for four years, going so far as to reveal the medications he was taking.
She searched the Dossier Santé Québec (DSQ) and the medical file of the University Institute of Cardiology and Pneumology of Quebec, while they were in conflict over custody of their children.
In Montreal, nursing assistant Carla Vanessa Chauvel checked the file of a former acquaintance “to ensure that he did not suffer from any sexually transmitted infection.”
They were struck off for four and two weeks each.
Up to 200 files
Auxiliary nurse Thai Ngoc Quyen Nguyen was disbarred for three months for having made more than 200 illegal consultations in a Laval clinic. None of the files were those of patients, but rather of a former spouse, work colleagues and friends.
Auxiliary nurse Sonie Eugène, in Montreal, was disbarred for two months this year for having consulted without authorization the files of a dozen relatives and friends.
She carried out around thirty illegal consultations, but “as she does not [divulguait] not the information consulted, it [croyait] then erroneously not committing an ethical infraction,” writes the Disciplinary Council in its decision.
“It doesn’t work,” thunders Paul Brunet, of the Council for the Protection of the Sick. They need to understand the importance and seriousness [de ces gestes].»
Lagging key
A Joliette pharmacist, Michael Guay, also received a two-month disbarment for having consulted personal information on an ex-spouse, on more than 40 occasions, and on two of his acquaintances.
Furthermore, he admitted “having already left his DSQ key [Dossier santé Québec] on his workstation and having left his password with the pharmacy employees.”
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