A Nevada medical lab technician who had previously been convicted for Medicaid fraud has been indicted on charges of committing identity theft tied to credit card fraud while out on parole . Legal experts say the case is a reminder to healthcare entities and their business associates to conduct background checks on prospective employees and take other measures to prevent and detect breaches involving insiders . In an Oct. 28 statement , the U.S. Department of Justice said a federal grand jury on Oct. 27 indicted Sherice Joan Williams , of North Las Vegas , on one count of illegal use and disclosure of patient health information and one count of aggravated identity theft . Williams pleaded not guilty to the charges . The FBI handled the investigation in collaboration with local police . Prosecutors say Williams , between about Dec. 1 , 2014 , and Jan. 27 , 2015 , while working as a laboratory technician at an unnamed Las Vegas pediatric cardiology practice , allegedly accessed a patient 's information without authorization and then used it to apply for credit cards without the patient 's knowledge . Criminal History Previously , Williams was convicted on a felony charge of submitting false Medicaid claims , according to a Nov. 4 , 2013 , statement from the Nevada 's state attorney general 's office . She was then sentenced to serve 12 to 48 months in prison and pay about $ 10,000 in restitution , penalties and costs . In that case , prosecutors alleged that Williams , while working for a North Las Vegas behavioral health services firm , had submitted false documentation for services she never provided to a Medicaid recipient . The investigation found that Williams submitted progress notes and subsequent Medicaid claims for time periods where the Medicaid recipient was not receiving the behavioral health services , according to a statement from the Nevada state attorney general 's office . The fraud occurred between February and May 2012 . Nevada parole board records indicate that even though Williams was sentenced in November 2013 to serve one to four years for the Medicaid fraud crimes , she was granted parole from a state prison a few weeks later , on Nov. 25 , 2013 , and then was released from prison on Jan. 22 , 2014 . Parole was granted because Williams had earned credits while serving another concurrent sentence for a previous fraud - related case , a Nevada parole board spokesman says . Parole records indicate that Williams ' parole was subsequently revoked on March 19 , 2015 , and she is currently serving out her Medicaid fraud sentence , the spokesman says . Crane Pomerantz , assistant U.S. Attorney in the Nevada district who is lead prosecutor in the Williams case , declined to comment on the case or the defendant 's previous criminal record , and how that potentially could affect sentencing if Williams is convicted on the new ID theft and criminal HIPAA violations . In a statement , prosecutors note that if convicted , Williams faces up to 10 years in prison on the health information charge and a minimum of two years consecutive on the aggravated identity theft charge , plus maximum fines of $ 250,000 on each count . Preventive Measures Healthcare fraud experts say the Williams case is a warning to other healthcare entities and business associates about the need to scrutinize prospective and current workforce members . " In commentary to the HIPAA Security Rule , the Department of Health and Human Services states that ' the need for and extent of a screening process is normally based on an assessment of risk , cost , benefit , and feasibility as well as other protective measures in place , ' " notes privacy attorney Adam Greene of the law firm David Wright Tremaine . " Organizations may wish to consider what information individuals will have access to , and what is the risk that they will use that information for their own financial gain , such as for identity theft purposes . This may lead to more focused background checks , with more stringent standards applied to workforce members who will have access to Social Security numbers , credit card numbers and other high - risk information . " While background checks can help vet employees , they 're not foolproof , notes privacy attorney Kirk Nahra of the law firm Wiley Rein . " Background checks are important , and healthcare companies should do them generally , but they are n't perfect , " he says . " Insider threats are a real and significant issue . In my personal experience , insider problems are far more likely to lead to actual harm than many external breaches . " Insiders with bad intentions can take exactly what they need for bad purposes , Nahra says . " This is a consistent and ongoing problem , " he says . As a result , healthcare organizations must educate their staff on the consequences of inappropriate data access and then monitor their activity , he says . " People have to know they will get caught and that they will get fired , " he says . " But it is hard to balance access to data to get your job done with strong controls and an effective monitoring problem . " The recent attention on major cyberattacks in the healthcare sector should not divert organizations from addressing insider threats , Nahra stresses . " But sometimes the focus on hackers ... distracts from this current , ongoing , significant problem with insider threats . " ;