57,000 patient records belonging to the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, CA are the latest statics in the rash of HIPAA potential breaches to be reported across the United States.
On January 9, 2013 an unencrypted laptop was stolen from a physician’s car. The laptop contained patient information from the 311-bed hospital. The hospital, an academic medical center located at Stanford University, shared this HIPAA breach on Monday, January 21, 2013.
The stolen laptop may have contained information such as dates of birth, medical record numbers and other sensitive clinical data. Officials reported that the compromised information was primarily patient information from 2009.
Officials from the hospital continue to investigate alongside local law enforcement.
The hospital said in a press statement that they are taking additional steps to further strengthen their policies and controls with patient data including ensuring all computers and devices that contain medical information is encrypted.
Don’t become another HIPAA breach statistic. Take steps today to protect your patients and avoid costly penalties by ensuring your medical facility has taken the required steps to safeguard patient information. This includes conducting a HIPAA risk assessment, making sure all computers and devices are encrypted and ensuring all users take the required steps to ensure they are doing their part to safeguard patient records.
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