A Beloit paramedic is facing discipline for accessing a patient’s private medical information without proper authorization, and sharing some of that information with other paramedics who were not involved in the patient’s care.
In a complaint filed with the Beloit Police and Fire Commission, Fire Chief Brad Liggett recommended Jake Fehrenbach be suspended for a single day without pay.
Beloit Human Resources Director Marianne Marshall says Fehrenbach exercised his right to a hearing before the Police and Fire Commission which is scheduled for March 13th.
According to the criminal complaint Fehrenbach printed out a patient care report on a call that he was a part of without permission. Fehrenbach then took the document out a the fire department without redacting the patient’s information, and showed it to other EMT’s to get their opinion on how he filled out the report. Although Fehrenbach eventually redacted some of the information on the report, it wasn’t before others had a chance to look at it.
The accusations against Fehrenbach amount to a breach of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and could result in a fine for the City of the fire department.
