Laptop containing patient data goes missing from Mississippi hospital

Laptop containing patient data goes missing from Mississippi hospital

Patients of a Jackson, Miss.-based hospital may have had their data compromised after a laptop went missing.

How many victims? The number of affected patients has not been disclosed, but a notice on the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) website said the laptop contained data of patients seen between 2008 and this January.

What type of personal information? Names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, diagnoses, medications, treatments and other clinical information.

What happened? On Jan. 22, officials at UMMC were notified that a password-protected laptop – shared by hospital clinicians – went missing.

What was the response? UMMC officials launched a search for the computer, but it has not yet been found. The hospital provided an email, phone number and address (for mailed inquiries) for patients with questions on the incident.

Details: In a notice on its website, UMMC said individual notifications for patients was “not possible” since the hospital had “insufficient contact information for those who may be affected.”

Source: University of Mississippi, www.umc.edu.com, “Notice: Breach of patient health and personal information.”