Breach, Threat Management, Data Security

Laptop and flash drive stolen from doctor’s car

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Thousands of patients of St. Anthony's Medical Center long-term care in St. Louis may have had health information compromised after a laptop and flash drive were stolen from the vehicle of a staff doctor.

How many victims? 2,600 patients.

What type of personal information? Names, birth dates, names of long-term care facilities and, possibly, medical care information, including diagnosis and medical history, medications and records regarding physicians visits.

What happened?  A password-protected laptop and flash drive was stolen from the doctor's car, but the St. Anthony's Physician Organization does not believe the devices were stolen with the intention of accessing the personal information.  

What was the response? St. Anthony's Medical Center notified law enforcement and the St. Anthony's Physician Organization and investigations are ongoing. The Medical Center made an announcement on Aug. 30 and is in the process of mailing letters to affected patients. St. Anthony's Physician Organization has updated its security policies and procedures related to mobile devices to protect information and to prevent against theft.

Details: The laptop and flash drive were stolen on July 29.

Quote: “The devices did NOT contain Social Security numbers, billing information or any other financial information,” according to a statement by Starla Stavely, a St. Anthony's privacy officer.

Source: stanthonysmedcenter.com, “STATEMENT REGARDING ELECTRONIC PATIENT DATA (PDF),” Aug. 30, 2013.

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