The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) has begun an investigation into a New Hampshire hospital that already has been targeted by state investigators for a breach of patient medical records.

Surveyors from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, acting on behalf of CMS, on Dec. 12 began conducting separate surveys of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover and its pathology laboratory operations, a spokeswoman for the CMS regional office in Boston, Roseanne Pawelec, said Dec. 16.

A breach that occurred in 2006 and 2007 involved the improper accessing and alteration of information of some 1,500 patients, according to the hospital and two pathologists who contend the hospital retaliated against them for reporting the violations.

The doctors contended that the hospital failed to comply with state and federal laws after discovering the violations. Wentworth-Douglass said it notified doctors of the breach but that it is not required to notify patients. The hospital is cooperating with the investigation, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

The surveyors are examining privacy issues, patient rights, medical recordkeeping, and quality assurance to determine whether the facility meets the “conditions of participation” for reimbursement by Medicaid and Medicare, Pawelec said. The federal government has authorized the state officials “to be the eyes and ears on our behalf,” she commented.

Discovery of deficiencies on the hospital side would trigger a full survey, Pawelec said, while the laboratory would be given an opportunity to submit a plan of correction to remedy any deficiencies that are found. The state officials are expected to submit a report to CMS 30 days after the investigation is completed.