St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis is part of St. Vincent Health. A statement uploaded today and linked from the hospital’s homepage says:
St.Vincent officials sent letters to approximately 1,100 patients informing them that a laptop connected to an electroencephalogram (EEG) machine and functioning as a medical device was detached and stolen from the hospital on December 22, 2013. The password-protected device contained personal health information that included name, date of birth, gender, date of service, type of service and physician name. No social security numbers or financial data was included on the diagnostic-testing device.
Hospital leaders immediately investigated this issue, and reported the theft to local law enforcement authorities. After a thorough assessment, there is no indication that the theft was related to patients’ personal health information, and hospital officials believe patients are at low risk of identity theft. In addition, St.Vincent is taking precautionary steps to avoid future incidents, and is evaluating its medical devices and installing encryption protection software as appropriate. Also, the hospital is working to enhance its physical security measures.
St.Vincent is encouraging patients, who receive a letter, to obtain a free credit report from each of the credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The credit bureaus information is below:
Equifax 800-525-6285 www.equifax.com
Experian 888-397-3742 www.experian.com
TransUnion 800-680-7289 www.transunion.comThe hospital has partnered with Immersion, Ltd. to assist patients, who receive a letter, with questions. Patients can call 1-855-770-0004, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, and should be prepared to provide the following 10 digit reference number on the call: 1931021314.
h/t, WISH-TV