Georgetown U. Hospital Patient Information Leaked
Georgetown University Hospital (GUH) patient information was exposed on a third party computer system maintained by InstantDX (a Maryland-based firm). A computer consultant stumbled upon the unsecured data while performing a software installation at a physician’s office.
The leaked information included patients’ names, a ddresses, Social Security numbers and dates of birth, but not medical data or the drugs the patients were prescribed, says Marianne Worley, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based hospital known for providing emergency care to the nation’s most powerful political figures.
…
“The initial investigation has found that no patient demographic data was inappropriately used,” says Worley, who says between 5,600 and 23,000 patients were affected.
There is no indication in the article if those affected will be notified of the incident. In fact, the Indiana-based consultant may be blamed instead of commended for discovering the unsecured data.
Source: Wired
Protect yourself and your family, guaranteed!
Written by MCruz on July 25th, 2006 with
no comments.
Read more articles on Hospitals and Identity Theft and Patients.
- [+] Digg: Feature this article
- [+] Del.icio.us: Bookmark this article
- [+] Furl: Bookmark this article
