Business
Hospital's laptop stolen; 28,000 patients affected
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 13, 2006
In mid-October Allina Hospitals & Clinics notified about 28,000 patients in its obstetrics home care program that a laptop containing their personal information, including Social Security numbers, was stolen from a nurse's car.
The theft occurred Oct. 8 while a nurse was dropping off a specimen at a laboratory after completing a home visit, said David Kanihan, a spokesman for the Minneapolis-based health system.
So far, Allina is not aware that the data have been misused, he said, adding the thief would need to use two passwords to use the laptop and access the data stored in it. Allina is offering affected patients one year of free credit bureau monitoring.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/11/13/bibf1113.htm.
