Hawaii Hospital Alerts 130,000 Patients of Missing Computer Drive
October 24th, 2005 | Published in Uncategorized
Oops. Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai has the task of notifying 130,000 past and current patients that they have misplaced a computer drive containing private information.
Hospital spokeswoman Lani Yukimura said a backup drive, with files
going back 12 years, was found missing on Oct. 5. Yukimura said
hospital officials do not know if the “thumb drive” was stolen or
missing.
“Anything could have happened. We just don't know,” she said. “We wish this didn't happen. We totally regret it.”
Yukimura said the data drive does not contain medical information, but
has a listing of names, addresses, medical record numbers and Social
Security numbers.
One question that comes to mind is what procedures and documentation
was created in response to HIPAA security requirements to minimize the
risk of something like this happening?One hundred and thirty thousand.
Wow. Of course SS numbers are a prime target for identity thieves.
[Hat tip: iHealthBeat]
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