UMC Leak Allegedly Plugged

A Federal Grand Jury has indicted 54-year-old Richard Charette on one count of conspiracy to disclose personal health information in violation of HIPPA.

Charette, a UMC volunteer, is alleged to have paid "about $8,000" to a trauma unit employee for confidential patient records, and then used the information to solicit clients for personal injury lawyers. If convicted, Charette faces a sentence of up to five years in prison.

Previous WWL posts about this story are available here and here.

Our State Bar is also investigating attorneys possibly involved in this matter, from the RJ:

"Our inquiry is ongoing and, in fact, was initiated before the indictment was handed up," Assistant Bar Counsel Phil Pattee wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. "The State Bar's investigation has not been in conjunction with the apparent federal probe. Because the State Bar's investigation, pursuant to Supreme Court Rules, remains confidential, the Office of Bar Counsel cannot provide further information at this time, including the identity of any attorney who might be involved."

Translation: "We got nothing."

(LVRJ)

When Is A Bribe Not A Bribe?

The LV Sun is reporting that a man has come forward with inside information regarding the UMC patient data leak scandal. If you don't recall the story, UMC was accused back in November 2009 of selling patient information to local attorneys who could then use the info to contact potential clients.

According to the Sun's latest story, UMC was also selling referrals to local doctors. The Sun spoke to Dr. Steven Holper, who claimed that he was approached by the "manager" of a local PI law firm with an "unusual proposal" on how to get patient referrals from UMC: give a gift card to a particular, well-placed employee of the hospital.

Holper, being the upstanding citizen that he is, immediately purchased a $200 gift card to P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and delivered it to Deep Throat ... you know, just out of curiosity. The LV Sun describes the exchange:

Leichty [Holper's girlfriend/gift card mule] told the Sun that the encounter with the hospital employee was awkward, possibly because three people were within earshot of their conversation. She thought the hospital employee expected the visit, so she handed the employee the gift card and explained it was a gift from Holper.

The employee “looked surprised,” Leichty said — and kept the gift card.

Holper later realized there was a hitch to the referral plan: He did not have credentials to practice at UMC, which would be required to accept its patients. The law firm manager urged him to start the process, Holper said.

Awwww maaaannnn! Maybe next time Holper will read the fine print before attempting to bribe someone. Holper, of course, had no idea he was doing anything wrong ... it was all that sneaky "law firm manager":

Parts of the law firm manager’s pitch made Holper wonder if the deal was legitimate. For example, the manager allegedly emphasized it was just a gift card — not a bribe — to help the UMC employee remember to send the doctor patients.

It’s just something nice for Christmas so (the UMC employee will) remember you, Holper recalls the manager saying about the gift card.

So, let's get this straight. Holper managed to make it through medical school, yet somehow was convinced by a "law firm manager" that a bribe isn't a bribe so long as it's paid in Chang's Spicy Chicken? Sounds fish-saucy to us. Holper's justification is even better:

Holper figured the plan would benefit everyone involved. The gift card seemed harmless, he reasoned, and patients who couldn’t pay for their care or were uninsured would benefit because he would not charge them for medical care. Instead, he would refer them to the law firm that, according to the plan, would represent the patient in litigation and use a jury award or settlement to pay the doctor’s fees and its legal fees. Because doctors refer patients to attorneys frequently, he said, there was no problem sending the patients to this law firm.

Yeah, win-win-win. Doctors and law firms working together to achieve a common goal, no problem there ... what could possibly go wrong? Funny how there's no mention of the types of patients that would be referred, just anyone who couldn't pay the doctor's bill. "Been to UMC, you need a check!" ... just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Holper's only regret?

Holper now wonders why the employee accepted the gift card.

“I want my $200 gift certificate back!” he said.

Somehow we think the good doctor is missing the big picture here.

What are your thoughts, commenters? Is Dr. Holper a do-good-know-nothing-whistle-blower, or is something else going on here? We'd love to hear the inside scoop if any of you know which firms are about to be dragged into this mess.

(LV Sun)

Ambulance Chasers No Longer "Chasing"

In an effort to maximize efficiency, some of our unscrupulous P.I. attorneys have skipped casually dropping a business card at the scene of an accident in favor of going directly to the source for clients.

The LV Sun is reporting that UMC has been selling a compilation of the hospital’s daily registration forms for accident patients to local attorneys (names still unknown). But worry not, citizens, Kathy Silver is on the case:

Kathy Silver, chief executive of the hospital, said Thursday in an interview with the Sun that she heard rumors about information being leaked from the trauma center early this summer. She said a source put her in touch with a local chiropractor, who shared with her the rumor that attorneys were illegally gaining access to patient information. She did a cursory investigation of the attorneys who had requested medical records, but she and the chiropractor agreed that nothing seemed unusual.

Good enough for us ... what's for lunch?

Ok ... don't worry if Ms. Silver missed it, County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly has it handled:

County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, who serves as chairman of the UMC board of trustees, told the Sun that he heard of the alleged breach from more than one reliable source about 10 days ago. He said he was told that representatives of law firms were approaching car accident victims even while they were in the hospital. He had not talked to the hospital about it because he was not sure if it was illegal for private patient information to leave the hospital.

Yeah, sharing private medical information is more of a faux pas, really. Why else would we have to stand a football field away from the next person being helped at the grocery-store pharmacy? And really, if it's for a good cause ... like a frivolous lawsuit ... where's the harm?

Back to reality - the attorneys involved will likely maybe be investigated by the bar for their role in this. However, as the Sun notes, UMC could be in a whole heap of trouble:

HIPAA violations can be investigated by the county district attorney, the state attorney general’s office or the United States Attorney’s office, Pritts said. Congress increased the penalties for HIPAA violations, effective at the end of November. A person who violates a patient’s privacy with the intent to sell information can be fined up to $250,000 and imprisoned for up to 10 years.

We're always interested in names and numbers. Anyone on the "inside" care to share who the attorneys involved were and how much they paid for the lists?

(LV Sun)