Sensitive laptop stolen from Detroit hospital

A laptop containing sensitive patient information was recently stolen from Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit.

How many victims? Undisclosed.

What type of personal information? Patient names, medical record numbers, dates of birth, mailing and e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, treatment and doctor visits. No Social Security numbers or health insurance information were breached.

What happened? The device was stolen on Sept. 24 from an unlocked medical urology office. It was password protected but there is still a possibility that personal patient information could be at risk.

Details: The laptop contained patient information related to prostate services received between 1997 and 2008.

Quote: "The security of our patients' health information is very important to us, and we sincerely apologize for what happened," said Meredith Phillips, chief privacy officer at Henry Ford Health Systems. "This laptop did not have the proper security protections that we require for laptop computers storing patient information."

What was the response? The hospital has begun sending notification letters to affected patients, who are being offered one-year free credit monitoring. In addition, the hospital is providing employees with additional training on how to protect patient information stored on computers.

Source: clickondetroit.com, WDIV Detroit, “Detroit Hospital Security Breach,” Nov. 15, 2010.