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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Officials from Oregon Health & Science University said Friday that a laptop that may contain information about 890 patients was stolen early this week from a hospital employee who took the computer to Chicago.
The university said that all patients whose personal information might be on the computer will receive a letter from OHSU either during the weekend or early next week telling them about the theft.
The laptop was password-protected, according to OHSU spokesman Jim Newman, and officials are unsure how much patient information was left undeleted on the hard drive.
Potentially, according to Newman, patient names, telephone numbers, birth dates, medical diagnoses and treatment categories could be included on the hard drive.
Newman said the laptop did not contain Social Security numbers, diagnoses or treatments.
OHSU officials did not believe the information would be enough to allow a thief to steal a patient’s identity, Newman said, but hypothetically it could be used to call OHSU to get more information. As a result, all 890 names have been flagged so if a call is made to the hospital, steps will be taken to ensure that it is not from an imposter.
The laptop was stolen with other personal items, including another laptop, which leads OHSU officials to believe the thief was not after patient identities or information.
Newman said it was likely the laptops were wiped clean and sold for money.
So you do not thing the thief was after the patient information. Just how many times do we read about stolen lap tops containing personal information whether it be customer, employee, student or patient? I see at least two a week. When will companies stop allowing employees to take personal information home? Maybe the thief took the other items to throw off the reason the computers were stolen. There is a lot of money to be made with stolen information.
If I were to ever find out that my information was allowed out on a lap top, I would probably file a suit. Keep personal and confidential information in the office with encrypted hard drives.
(email verified)
Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 12:08 PM
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Re: OHSU says laptop with patient info was stolen
Why is any patient information on a laptop traveling to Chicago? I am so sick of these stories, it is time for people who are affected to sue so that these organizations stop putting such info on a portable device like a laptop. I realize this is the information age and people are going to hack into servers, but putting this info on a laptop makes NO sense at all
"Greshamguy"
(email verified)
Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 06:24 PM