In a decision released February 27, 2024, the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal (OPSDT) of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) suspended the medical license of diagnostic radiologist Dr. Ashley John Mercado for having conducted hundreds of unauthorized searches of confidential health records that were outside his circle of care.
FACTS
In July 2021, a patient expressed concern about Dr. Mercado’s potential unauthorized access to their medical records. An internal investigation by the hospital revealed that between 2015 and August 2021, Dr. Mercado used the electronic medical record system to access patient information of 20 patients without their knowledge or consent.
None of the 20 patients were under Dr. Mercado’s care nor did he have authorization to access their hospital records. All 20 patients were people that Dr. Mercado knew or with whom he was acquainted.
Dr. Mercado performed these searches hundreds of times between 2015 and August 2021. Dr. Mercado was able to access patients’ personal health information, including patient visit history, the encounter type (i.e. OBGYN, chemo, etc.), and the reasons for their visits, though not their entire hospital charts. Dr. Mercado also accessed the medical imaging and/or imaging reports of four of the 20 patients.
Collectively, Dr. Mercado accessed one particular patient’s health information and that of their family a total of 484 times, sometimes multiple times per day.
Dr. Mercado’s unauthorized access to the patient’s electronic medical records stopped only after the patient complained, and the Hospital initiated an investigation and implemented a “denial of access” for Dr. Mercado.
DECISION
In reaching their decision, the OPSDT stated [at paras. 1-2]:
The privacy of a patient’s personal health information is sacrosanct. To ensure public confidence in the medical profession, patients must be able to trust that their sensitive personal health information will not be accessed by unauthorized persons, including physicians not involved in their circle of care.
Dr. Mercado breached that trust. At various times over a period of approximately six years, Dr. Mercado accessed the hospital records of 20 individuals when he was not authorized to do so. None of them were his patients. His targeted searches involved extended family members and colleagues, among others. At the hearing, Dr. Mercado admitted and we found that his actions constituted professional misconduct.
As a result of his conduct, Dr. Mercado was ordered to be reprimanded, his medical license was suspended for 4 months, and he was ordered to pay costs of $6,000.
Decision Date: February 27, 2024
Jurisdiction: Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal
Citation: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario v. Mercado, 2024 ONPSDT 7 (CanLII)
