Mobile Data Shredding

Healthcare IT News
July 20, 2010 | Molly Merrill, Associate Editor

Mass. hospital investigating the potential loss of back-up data for 800,000 individuals

WEYMOUTH, MA – South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass., reported on Monday that back-up computer files containing personal, health and financial information for approximately 800,000 individuals may have been lost by a data management company that was hired to destroy them.

Officials at South Shore Hospital, a not-for-profit, regional provider of acute, outpatient, home health, and hospice care for Southeastern Massachusetts, said the files were being destroyed because the formatting was no longer compatible with what the hospital used.

According to the hospital, files were sent to a professional data management company for offsite destruction on Feb. 26. When certificates of destruction were not provided in a timely manner, officials said they pressed the data management company for an explanation and were finally informed on June 17 that only a portion of the files had been received and destroyed.

The hospital’s investigation has revealed that the computer files contained personally identifiable information for patients who received medical services at South Shore Hospital – as well as employees, physicians, volunteers, donors, vendors and other business partners associated with the hospital.

The information on the files may include individuals’ full names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, medical record numbers, patient numbers, health plan information, dates of service, protected health information including diagnoses and treatments relating to certain hospital and home healthcare visits, and other personal information. Bank account information and credit card numbers for a very small subset of individuals also may have been on the back-up computer files, said officials. You can read more here