Misplaced notebook leads to potential breach at Air Force hospital
 |
The facility is part of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The 88th Medical Group sent notification letters to the donors, said Wright-Patterson spokesman William Hancock, according to an article in the Dayton Daily News.
The Air Force took “administration sanctions” against those involved in the potential data breach, the base said in a statement.
Officials could not immediately provide the exact date that the information was misplaced, but one day this month, the notebook was left in a limited-use conference room late in the afternoon and recovered the next morning behind a chair, where it had apparently been dropped, according to base officials.
“While there is no evidence to suggest that personal data was accessed or misused, and the listing was only misplaced for a very short period of time, it is Air Force policy to inform individuals whose personal information could have been compromised,” the base statement said.
The notebook included sign-in sheets with personal information from participants. “The notebook should have been kept in a locked container when not in use,” the statement said. Donors who did not receive a letter did not have their information misplaced, the Air Force said.
Checklist procedures were changed after the incident. The medical group “will continue to review procedures to ensure that a similar occurrence does not happen in the future,” the Air Force said.
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.