Plymouth hospital notifies 6000 patients of potential security breach

Last month’s disappearance of a laptop from an employee’s locked car has determined Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth officials to send letters to 6000 of their patients, warning them of a potential threat against their private information.

The computer in question contained hospital account numbers, medical record numbers, names, addresses, and other patient and health information. However, no Social Security numbers or other sensitive information like insurance information or credit card information were stored on it. As the laptop and the employee’s desktop computer were synced, technicians were able to determine what exactly was lost. Read more

Phoenix Dentists Lost Portable Device with 10,000 Patient Records

Two dentists from Phoenix, Arizona, Brian J. Daniels, D.D.S. and Paul R. Daniels, D.D.S. have recently posted a short notice on their website regarding a privacy breach. This breach involved a portable data device which was stolen on March 2nd and contained protected health information  for about 10,000 patients.

The notice, poor in any relevant detail, reads as follows:

HIPAA Breach Information for Patients of Record Certain electronically-stored patient records were stolen on March 2, 2011. If you have any questions please call 602-265-8751

As the website itself seems to be lacking content, and media coverage is quite poor at the moment, more information on this issue will become available when the Department of Health and Human Services publishes it.

Stolen laptop jeopardizes more than 3000 patients

A laptop theft that occurred at a doctor’s home has prompted Dean Health System and St. Mary’s Hospital to offer identity theft protection to more than 3,000 patients. According to Kim Sveum, Dean spokeswoman, the laptop, which was stolen on Nov. 8 did not contain Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers or other financial information

Dean and St. Mary’s released a statement about the situation Monday. and  sent letters Saturday to more than 3000 affected patients. All of these patience have had had surgeries from 2001 through Nov. 8.

The doctor ,who has not been named, apparently stored  the patient information on her personal computer, against Dean policy, Sveum said. Data on Dean computers are encrypted, she added.

Sveum wouldn’t say if the doctor was disciplined. Dean and St. Mary’s “are undertaking comprehensive reviews of this breach of policy” and reminding employees to protect patient privacy, the statement said.

Along with the laptop, the doctor reported the theft of  an iPod, a jewelry box and a purse  stolen from her home in Fitchburg, said Lt. Todd Stetzer of the Fitchburg Police Department. Only the purse has been recovered.

This was not the only house breaking in the area and it had occurred through an unlocked patio door.

The patients affected by the theft are being allowed to sign up for one-year identity theft service, including up to $20,000 in reimbursements for expenses from resolving any identity theft issues. However, no problems have been reported so far, and the risk appears to be small, Sveum said.

Patient Records Lost at Vincent’s Hospital

St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin has announced one if its computer back-ups containing patient records is missing. Notices have been posted around the hospital with inquires of the whereabouts of the drive in question.

According to a hospital spokesman, the Data Protection Office has been notified on October 21 of the data protection breach relating to the loss of this device. The lost data will have no impact on patient care.

‘‘It contained archived copies of the files of a small subset of patients with laryngeal disorders who attended the ear, nose and throat department between 2002 and 2008,” said the spokesman. ‘‘The original patient records are still preserved. The hospital will be contacting all of the laryngeal patients whose details were on the storage device.”

The incident was fully investigated according to the code of practice, and a report would be forwarded to the Data Protection Office.

Measures to prevent the repeat of such incidents involving external data storage devices have been taken.

Montefiore Medical Center: two computer thefts expose well over 23,000 private records

Two recent thefts of desktop computers belonging to the Montefiore Medical Center lead to the exposure of sestive information on patients and students stored by Montefiore’s Finance Department and School Health Program Administrative Offices.

The first incident happened in late May when two desktop computers were stolen from Montefiore’s Finance Department. The theft was discovered a couple of days later. Montefiore assessed the incident and concluded patient information had been stored on the computers, including patient names and medical record numbers. For some patients, the data stored also included social security numbers, dates of birth, hospital admission dates and/or insurer information.
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