NEW YORK, June 7, 2013 – NYU Langone Medical Center notified patients and employees this week that an unencrypted external hard drive containing patient and employee personal and/or protected health information (PHI) was discovered missing by an employee.
The hard drive contained data of about 10,700 individuals. Of this number, three-quarters are current or former employees of NYU Langone. Data contained on the hard drive potentially includes names, date of birth, and in some instances social security numbers and/or PHI.
At this time there is no indication that the missing information has been misused or disclosed in any way, but as a precautionary measure identity theft protection is being offered to all affected patients and employees at no cost to them.
The hard drive is believed to have gone missing between late January and early April 2013, when the employee’s office located at Bellevue Hospital was closed for repairs following Hurricane Sandy. On April 10, 2013, after the office was reopened, the hard drive could not be found. A police report was promptly filed and an investigation is currently underway. As required by law, this incident was also reported to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights and state regulators.
NYU Langone Medical Center takes the protection of its patients’ and employees’ personal information very seriously, and the use of unencrypted storage devices is against its policy pertaining to the storage and handling of personal data. To help prevent a similar occurrence in the future, an assessment of the medical center’s information security policies and electronic personal information storage practices is being conducted, staff are being retrained regarding the proper safeguarding of health and other personal information, and medical-center-wide communications/training is being performed on the proper protection of sensitive information.
A dedicated phone line and call center team has been set up to answer questions of those concerned that they may have been impacted. The center can be reached Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. eastern standard time at (877) 615-3765 (toll free).
For media inquiries, contact Lisa Greiner, 212.404.3532, Lisa.Greiner@nyumc.org [1].
About NYU Langone Medical Center:
NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated, academic medical center, is one of the nation's premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of four hospitals – Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; Rusk Rehabilitation; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, one of only five hospitals in the nation dedicated to orthopaedics and rheumatology; and Hassenfeld Pediatric Center, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children's health services across the medical center – plus the NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. The medical center's tri-fold mission to serve, teach and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education and research. For more information, go to www.NYULMC.org [2].
Links:
[1] mailto:Lisa.Greiner@nyumc.org
[2] http://www.NYULMC.org