Emory Healthcare in Atlanta has announced that 10 backup discs containing information on approximately 315,000 surgical patients are missing from a storage location at Emory University Hospital, also in Atlanta.
The information on the discs relates to patients treated between September 1990 and April 2007 at Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, formerly Emory Crawford Long Hospital, and Emory Clinic Ambulatory Surgery Center. The discs contained protected health information including patient names, dates of surgery and diagnoses. Approximately 228,000 of the patient records included Social Security numbers.
An investigation has revealed the discs likely went missing between Feb. 7 and Feb. 20, 2012. According to the report, the data files were from an obsolete software system that was deactivated in 2007. The system is accessed infrequently and only as requested by patients or physicians. The data was last accessed in 2010.
Emory Healthcare has launched a comprehensive inventory of data systems and an institution-wide initiative to reinforce and clarify policies and procedures for safeguarding the security and privacy of sensitive information.
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The information on the discs relates to patients treated between September 1990 and April 2007 at Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, formerly Emory Crawford Long Hospital, and Emory Clinic Ambulatory Surgery Center. The discs contained protected health information including patient names, dates of surgery and diagnoses. Approximately 228,000 of the patient records included Social Security numbers.
An investigation has revealed the discs likely went missing between Feb. 7 and Feb. 20, 2012. According to the report, the data files were from an obsolete software system that was deactivated in 2007. The system is accessed infrequently and only as requested by patients or physicians. The data was last accessed in 2010.
Emory Healthcare has launched a comprehensive inventory of data systems and an institution-wide initiative to reinforce and clarify policies and procedures for safeguarding the security and privacy of sensitive information.
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