Fired UIHC resident faces sentencing for violating patient privacy laws

The Iowa Board of Medicine regulates the state's medical profession as part of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. (Photo by Getty Images, board seal courtesy the State of Iowa)

A fired University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics resident is now facing sentencing for violating federal patient privacy laws at two Iowa hospitals.

Dr. Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez Roman, 34, formerly of Iowa City, was indicted in April on a charge of wrongfully obtaining individually identifiable health information under false pretenses for personal gain or malicious harm. He recently agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge that omits the motivation of personal gain or malicious harm.

The charge is punishable by no more than five years of imprisonment and a fine of no more than $250,000.

As part of the plea deal, Hernandez Roman has admitted that in 2022, while working in the emergency room of an unspecified Iowa hospital, he obtained patient medical information on a girlfriend without authorization and for no legitimate medical purpose.

That same year, Henandez Roman admits, he disseminated a photograph via SnapChat that depicted a patient in a hospital setting, wearing a gown, “with the patient’s rectum clearly hanging out of the body.” He admits he had no legitimate medical reason for taking the photo or sending it to others, and also admits sending a patient X-ray to an unauthorized individual.

Henandez Roman also admits that in 2023, while working in the emergency department of a second unspecified Iowa hospital, his superiors fielded an anonymous complaint, later verified, that he had accessed patients’ protected health records, had threatened patients, and was romantically involved with two patients.

State records indicate that in June 2023, Henandez Roman sent the Iowa Board of Medicine a letter admitting that he had accessed the confidential medical records of two individuals he was seeing. At that time, he falsely stated that the reason he shared the patient photo with others was to remind them of the importance of fiber in one’s diet.

Court records indicate a date for sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

Criminal case follows board action

In February, the Board of Medicine fined Hernandez Roman $7,500 and suspended his Iowa medical license indefinitely after accusing him of dishonesty and abusing his status as a physician by accessing the medical records of women he dated.

Board records indicate the charges related to Hernandez Roman’s postgraduate residency program in emergency medicine at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

In early 2023, UIHC’s Clinical Competency Committee allegedly learned Hernandez Roman violated patient privacy regulations by gaining unauthorized access to the medical records of a person with whom he had a romantic relationship. It was alleged that when Hernandez Roman realized the woman was aware he had accessed her medical records, he went to her home and threatened that if she ended his career, he would “end” her.

When asked to explain his actions, Hernandez Roman allegedly admitted that he had a romantic relationship with one of the women whose records he had accessed. In that case, he allegedly explained that he pulled her medical records to check lab results for any sexually transmitted diseases, telling investigators, “I thought, ‘Oh f—, I don’t want this girl to pass me anything. I better check.’”

Board records indicate the photo of the patient’s prolapsed rectum was taken at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, where Hernandez Roman worked periodically. He allegedly sent the photo to a woman he was dating and included with it written commentary that the board characterized as “unprofessional.”

At one point, Hernandez Roman allegedly told a board investigator that he shared the photo with others because he was competing in a “Puerto Rico’s Sexiest Doctor of the Year” contest and wanted to prove he was a physician.

Board records indicate Hernandez Roman was fired by UIHC and is now living in Puerto Rico. He could not be reached for comment. However, in defending his actions before the board , Hernandez Roman blamed his behavior and judgment on cultural and language barriers, as well as his poor mental health.

The post Fired UIHC resident faces sentencing for violating patient privacy laws appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch .