Employee fired after laptop containing health care data stolen from her car
A laptop containing the health care information of about 100,000 patients of Baylor Health Care Systems in Texas was stolen from the car of an employee, who was subsequently fired for breaking company protocol.What type of personal information? Medical records, including the names of patients and medical codes corresponding to the treatment they received. About 7,400 patients had their Social Security numbers on the machine.
What happened? The employee, a manger, was assigned to enter the information into the laptop but was fired because she broke company policy by leaving the machine in her car.
What was the response? Baylor is offering free credit-monitoring services to the victims whose Social Security numbers were on the laptop. In addition, the organization is offering a $1,000 reward for the return of the machine, stolen between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. on Sept. 18 or 19 in Royse City, Texas.
Details: When the incident happened, Baylor was in the process of extending tracking and remote-wipe technology to its laptops.
Source: dallasnews.com, The Dallas Morning News, "Baylor Health Care says laptop with patient data stolen," Nov. 4, 2008.
