Sonoma hospital breach impacts 1,350

Beth Walsh | | Health Exec | Cybersecurity

Sonoma Valley Hospital has notified 1,350 patients that their information was inadvertently posted on its website, according to the organization.

The hospital, overseen by the Sonoma Valley Health Care District, removed the patient information immediately upon discovering the accidental disclosure, which occurred Feb. 14, and said steps were taken to prevent another incident.

According to the hospital, as part of routine website maintenance an employee accidentally uploaded personal information for 1,350 surgery patients which included patient’s names, procedure, surgeon, date of service, hospital charges and the name of insurance companies. The breach inmpacts surgery patients seen in the hospital between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012.

The breach was not discovered until April 17, because the information was posted on a section of the website not directly accessible by visitors. However, the information was searchable by automated services such as Google, according to the hospital.

 

 

Beth Walsh,

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.

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