Boston Children’s Hospital agrees to pay $40K following breach

Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) has agreed to pay $40,000 following a breach that compromised patient health information, according to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

According to the complaint, a BCH-issued laptop was stolen from a physician while he was presenting at a May 2012 conference in Buenos Aires. The unencrypted laptop stored the names, dates of birth, diagnoses, procedures and dates of surgery for 2,159 patients—the majority of whom were minors.

Under the terms of the consent judgment, BCH will pay $40,000, including a $30,000 civil penalty and a payment of $10,000 to a fund administered by the Attorney General’s Office for health privacy educational programs. Further, BCH agreed to implement practices to prevent another breach, including tracking all portable devices and training its workforce on the handling of personal information and protected health information.

“Healthcare providers must ensure that the privacy and security of sensitive patient information is protected,” said Coakley. “Today’s settlement will put in place and enforce important technological and physical security measures at Boston Children’s Hospital to help prevent a breach like this from happening again.”