Health care company for Arizona state prisons posts records of 54 inmates, ACLU says

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The American Civil Liberties Union claims a health care provider contracted to serve Arizona state prisons violated federal health care privacy laws after it publicly posted the medical records of as many as 54 inmates.

“We don’t know how long that website was up, we don’t know if there were previous versions with other names,” said Corene Kendrick, the deputy director of the ACLU National Prison Project.

NaphCare says a section of a training manual from that system was mistakenly made public. In some instances, information like patient names and medications taken was publicized, according to the ACLU.

“It is concerning any time this happens because it does raise questions about attention to detail and how secure they are holding the information,” said Kendrick. “There are very strict guidelines for what sort of information can and should be made public.”

NaphCare, which uses an electronic medical records system called TechCare, reportedly launched an investigation and took immediate action to secure the exposed content.

“Moving forward, we are taking steps to ensure strict compliance with policy and procedures,” a NaphCare spokesperson told Arizona’s Family.

The ACLU notified the Arizona Department of Health and Human Services about the breach of medical information. Federal agencies are responsible for investigating violations of health privacy laws.

In a statement to Arizona’s Family, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry said that it takes confidential and protected health information seriously and is investigating the matter.

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