SAN FRANCISCO - The University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) sued a university accountant who is allegedly blackmailing the university with private patient records, according to documents filed on Feb. 17 in the San Francisco County Superior Court.
Defendant Andrew Hom was an accountant in the university's dermatopathology department, where he was given access to patients' medical and financial records for billing and payment purposes. In February of this year, Hom contacted university officials to report an "unmitigated risk."
Representatives from UCSF's investigations and auditing department met with Hom expecting to be given information about a risk that Hom had encountered elsewhere; instead, the defendant told the university that he himself had hoarded a large volume of private patient records on hard drives and other locations, the suit says.
The records include social security numbers, medical records, photos, bank information and other important details.
According to the suit, Hom demanded a ransom from UCSF to prevent the release of the records, and that the records would be automatically released through a "dead-man's switch" if he did not actively stop it.
UCSF is requesting immediate enjoinment to prevent Hom from executing his extortion plan, ordering destruction of any records copied to outside storage, and is charging the defendant with unauthorized disclosure of protected health information under the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), unauthorized disclosure of medical information under the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) and breach of confidentiality agreement.
UCSF is represented by Narayan Travelstead, PC.