Former Hospital Exec Sued for Stealing PHI Upon Resignation
The Children’s Hospital of Atlanta is leveling a lawsuit at a former executive, who they say stole protected health information (PHI) after announcing her resignation.
The lawsuit claims that Sharon McCray, a corporate audit advisor for Children’s Hospital, emailed herself the PHI of children, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) numbers, healthcare license numbers for more than 500 providers, financial information, internal and external audits, and additional confidential and propriety information that belonged to the hospital.
The story was first reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which has linked the lawsuit, and three specific letters sent by the hospital to McCray. According to the lawsuit, McCray, upon being confronted, told the hospital that she sent the email so she could use the PHI as “backup records” for her new employment with an unidentified employer to use as a reference. The lawsuit claims that she hasn’t returned or destroyed any of the PHI to date.
Due to the fact she never returned the information, McCray’s employment was terminated on Oct. 22.
