Released: October 01, 2008

California creates hospital privacy oversight office

Source: Jordan Rau and Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times (Free Registration)

Hospitals and other health facilities will face harsh new penalties if their employees snoop in the medical records of patients, under legislation signed Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after privacy was breached on celebrities’ files—including his wife’s—at UCLA Medical Center.

Schwarzenegger approved two bills creating a state office to police patient privacy and to allow the state to issue fines as high as $250,000 for multiple violations.

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