BOISE, Idaho — A Boise patient says his trust in his healthcare provider has been shaken after documents connected to Gem State Dermatology were found in a public dumpster more than two miles from the clinic.
The discovery came after an anonymous Reddit user shared photos appearing to show boxes of patient documents in a dumpster. The user later told Idaho News 6 they found the documents in a dumpster more than two miles from Gem State Dermatology's Parkcenter Boulevard office.
North End resident Tim Adams, who has been a patient at the clinic for about four years, said seeing the photos was alarming.
WATCH | Patient raises privacy concerns after medical records discovered in dumpster—
“You put so much trust in, especially your doctors, physicians, those people, anybody who cares and has information in your records, and so it was really, really… just disheartening,” Adams said.
Adams said he has received quality medical care from Gem State Dermatology, but the discovery has raised concerns about how patient information is handled.
“So, now the trust level is gone, right? I don't want anybody seeing my records,” he said.
According to the Reddit user, the exact dumpster location was not included in the original post, but the boxes of documents were retrieved after the post gained attention online.
In a statement posted on its website, Gem State Dermatology confirmed the incident, saying the documents were “promptly recovered and secured” after the clinic became aware of the situation.
The clinic said it is investigating how the documents were improperly disposed of, has no evidence at this time that patient information was accessed, taken, or misused, and is reporting the matter to the appropriate authorities and regulatory agencies.
Idaho News 6 visited the clinic Thursday seeking an interview, but staff declined to comment. Follow-up questions emailed to the clinic asking how the documents ended up in the dumpster, how many patients may have been affected, and how the clinic located the records were not answered as of Friday evening.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, HIPAA privacy rules require healthcare providers to dispose of protected health information in a way that makes it unreadable and unable to be reconstructed.
The Idaho Board of Medicine told Idaho News 6 it has no public discipline related to the incident at this time. However, the Board noted Idaho law allows disciplinary action against a licensee who fails to safeguard the confidentiality of identifiable patient medical records.
Adams said he hopes the clinic provides patients with more transparency about what happened.
“I would wanna know, you know, what is their standard of record care? What are they doing with my records? It's very concerning that they don't know what's happening with their records,” he said.
Gem State Dermatology says it is contacting patients it believes may be most impacted by the incident and encourages anyone with questions or concerns to contact the clinic directly.
