Patient information stored on the thumb drive may have included patient names, medical record numbers, diagnoses, clinical information, dates of admission and physicians’ names, according to a statement published to the health system’s website. The thumb drive did not contain patient Social Security numbers or financial information.
The security incident only affects patients who received inpatient services at Renown South Meadows Medical Center between Jan. 1, 2012, and June 14, 2019, according to the statement.
A Renown Health employee reported the thumb drive was missing June 30. After investigating the security incident, Renown Health was unable to locate the thumb drive. The health system has no indication that any patients’ information has been misused but is notifying patients “in an abundance of caution,” the notice states. Renown Health has established a dedicated call center to answer questions about the incident.
“We deeply regret any concern or inconvenience this incident may cause our patients,” the statement reads. “To help prevent something like this from happening in the future, we are reviewing our policy on portable devices, such as thumb drives, and providing additional employee education on safeguarding patient information.”
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