Missing flash drive affects 29K in Indiana
A missing flash drive is at the center of a recent data breach, potentially impacting 29,000 patients in Indiana.
Indiana University Health Arnett learned on Nov. 20, 2015, that an unencrypted portable storage device was missing from its emergency department. The search for the device is ongoing but it contains spreadsheets with limited patient information from emergency department visits that occurred between Nov. 1, 2014, and Nov. 20, 2015, according to a notice posted on the organization's website.
The spreadsheets may have included patients’ names, dates of birth, ages, home telephone numbers, medical record numbers, dates of service, diagnoses and treating physicians. The spreadsheets did not contain any Social Security numbers, financial information or medical records and patient care will not be affected, the organization said.
The provider is "taking steps to enhance the protection of portable storage devices and reviewing policies and procedures to minimize the chance of such an incident occurring in the future," according to the notice.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.