A missing flash drive is the source of a potential data breach affecting just over 1,000 patients of OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus.
On May 29, the hospital discovered that an unencrypted flash drive was missing, according to a notification on its website. They launched an investigation and learned that the flash drive was last plugged into an OhioHealth computer in a non-public area on April 14. It may have included patient names, medical record numbers, names of insurance companies, physicians’ names, addresses, dates of birth, referral and treatment dates, the type of procedures, and in certain limited instances, clinical information and Social Security numbers.
This incident only affects certain patients who were candidates for valve replacements or who participated in research projects related to valve replacements at Riverside Methodist Hospital between July 2010 and December 2014.
The hospital believes the flash drive most likely was misplaced by an employee but is re-enforcing education with staff, suspending the use of flash drives in the involved department has suspended the use of flash drives and encrypting all thumb drives used at the facility.
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.