The strategy involved co-operation between the hospital security service and the police and the use of covert cameras.
Board group manager of diagnostic and support services Sonja Dillon said most thefts in the hospital were by people working within the hospital, both board and contracted staff.
Reported thefts typically involved cash, clothing and occasionally electronic devices such as cellphones.
The board was cautiously confident that with the higher visibility of the security service, the continued implementation of the theft action strategy, and arrests of two people suspected of stealing, theft levels would remain "very low".
Further strategies were being developed in consultation with the police and an independent security consultant for introduction this year, but the board was unable to disclose details at this stage, she said.
Figures sought by the Otago Daily Times to illustrate the drop in the number of monthly thefts since the introduction of the strategy last year were still being checked yesterday and were not available for publication.
Ms Dillon was responding to questions following the recent Dunedin District Court appearance of one of the two arrested, a man who admitted committing 14 burglaries and 14 thefts during his work at Dunedin Hospital as a security guard and a records clerk.
He was arrested last October.
The police summary of facts referred to the man taking some unfiled records home, with no intention of returning them, and to the discovery of wads of unopened diagnostic reports at the man's home.
Ms Dillon said hospital staff determined that patient privacy was not believed to have been breached by the discovery.
The documents found at the house were two small piles of folded paper reports and letters that had been sent to clinical records for filing. she said.
All were contained in a bag which did not appear to have been opened.
Ms Dillon said a great deal of documentation was sent to the clinical records department daily to be filed within patients' clinical records including paper copies of letters and diagnostic reports.
The documents found were assessed by chief medical officer Richard Bunton and returned to the clinical records department for filing.
No patient care was affected by the late filing of these documents as most of the information was available electronically to clinical staff and general practitioners and had already been received.
Mr Bunton determined that since the bag did not appear to have been opened, there was no evidence to suggest there had been an actual breach of patient privacy and patient care had not been affected, it should be treated as a "near miss" and notification of patients was not required.
Ms Dillon said the clinical records department adhered to health information legislation and policies regarding the storage and accessibility of patient records.
The department was locked down with swipe-card access only.
Following this incident, security measures were reviewed and access to the department had been tightened, Ms Dillon said.