Hospital courier loses patient lab forms
By Paul Leighton, Gloucester Daily Times, Mass. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The courier misplaced the forms, which were in a zippered bag along with other records, "somewhere between
In the letter to Attorney General
"Patient care was not compromised," McCarthy wrote.
The attorney general's office said the incident is under review.
The records in question were lab requisitions, paper slips that patients get from their doctor and take into the lab at the hospital. The slips were bundled in a packet inside a zippered courier bag and were being taken from
According to the hospital's account, the courier stopped at
The courier returned to
The courier works for Option Courier Services of
A man who answered the phone at Option Courier Services declined to comment.
The hospital also said it would make sure each courier has a signed confidentiality statement on file, would retrain couriers in data privacy and security, retrain hospital staff in the proper packaging of records in a locked courier bag for transport between hospital facilities, and evaluate what kind of information is included on lab requisitions.
The hospital also notified the state
"We maintain an extensive privacy program designed to minimize the risk of these types of events," Conroy said. "Consistent with that commitment, and in an effort to improve our policies and practices, we have thoroughly reviewed this event and taken the appropriate steps to enhance our practices."
The attorney general's office has been notified of more than 5,000 data breaches in
A portion of the payments go to a data protection fund used to improve the security and privacy of sensitive health and financial information in
Staff writer
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