Ariz. hospital misplaces endoscopy patient data
Data cards containing information about more than 2,200 patients were lost at Mountain View Medical Center, a 178-bed hospital in Mesa, Ariz. In a notice posted on the hospital’s website Dec. 10, the hospital reported that the compact memory cards were misplaced from two endoscopy machines, and it became aware of the problem on Oct. 13.
The letter states:
“On Oct. 13, Mountain Vista Medical Center became aware that compact memory data cards containing information related to procedures occurring Jan. 1, 2008 through Oct. 12, were missing from two endoscopy machines in the Endoscopy Unit. The compact memory data cards include the following information about the patients: full name, date of birth, age, sex, hospital medical record number, physician last name, date and time of procedure, type of procedure and procedure image(s). We have no reason to believe that the information involved in this incident has been accessed or improperly used.
“Social security numbers, credit card numbers, addresses, and telephone numbers were not included on the data cards,” the notice stated.
“Mountain Vista Medical Center has sent letters to all patients whose personal/sensitive information may have been stored on the compact memory data cards to notify them of the incident and also offer one year of credit monitoring services at no cost.”
The hospital recommended that affected patients take proactive steps to protect their credit by monitoring their credit reports. “We are offering patients one year of free credit report monitoring from ConsumerInfo.com that will assist them in protecting their identity and their credit information,” the letter stated.
"In addition to conducting a thorough investigation of the incident, we have revised our security procedures involving storage of the compact memory data cards, have modified the endoscopy machines to no longer use the compact memory data cards, and have retrained our Endoscopy Unit employees on confidentiality and security procedures.”
The letter states:
“On Oct. 13, Mountain Vista Medical Center became aware that compact memory data cards containing information related to procedures occurring Jan. 1, 2008 through Oct. 12, were missing from two endoscopy machines in the Endoscopy Unit. The compact memory data cards include the following information about the patients: full name, date of birth, age, sex, hospital medical record number, physician last name, date and time of procedure, type of procedure and procedure image(s). We have no reason to believe that the information involved in this incident has been accessed or improperly used.
“Social security numbers, credit card numbers, addresses, and telephone numbers were not included on the data cards,” the notice stated.
“Mountain Vista Medical Center has sent letters to all patients whose personal/sensitive information may have been stored on the compact memory data cards to notify them of the incident and also offer one year of credit monitoring services at no cost.”
The hospital recommended that affected patients take proactive steps to protect their credit by monitoring their credit reports. “We are offering patients one year of free credit report monitoring from ConsumerInfo.com that will assist them in protecting their identity and their credit information,” the letter stated.
"In addition to conducting a thorough investigation of the incident, we have revised our security procedures involving storage of the compact memory data cards, have modified the endoscopy machines to no longer use the compact memory data cards, and have retrained our Endoscopy Unit employees on confidentiality and security procedures.”