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Hospital suspends snooping starstruck staffers

EHR Connection, October 15, 2007

Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, NJ, suspended as many two dozen employees, including doctors and nurses, for allegedly improperly accessing actor George Clooney's medical records, according to an October 10 report by WCBS-TV in New York

Sources told the television station that employees not involved with the actor's care logged into the hospital's computer system to view his records as doctors tended to his injuries, and that a security guard released a Clooney family member's telephone number.

The former ER star, treated at the hospital after suffering a broken rib and road rash in a motorcycle accident, issued a statement that he believed in a patient's right to privacy, but hoped the incident could be resolved without suspending hospital workers, WCBS-TV reported.

The television station said that media seemed to have detailed information about Clooney's condition almost immediately and that as many as 40 hospital employees are under investigation for releasing information to the press, which is a violation of federal law.

In a statement to WCBS-TV, the hospital said it considers any violation of the law a serious matter, and that an investigation is under way.

Click here here to read the WCBS-TV report.

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