Lawrence General Hospital in Massachusetts has sent notification letters to 2,071 patients after a thumb drive with patient information was lost. The notification was made August 7, almost two months after the hospital discovered that the drive was missing from a secured hospital laboratory. The drive had been last seen on June 6, and was discovered missing on June 9.
The hospital’s investigation determined that
the thumb drive contained limited lab testing information, including patient names, laboratory testing codes, and slide identification numbers. The thumb drive did not include any social security numbers, addresses, dates of birth or any other clinical or financial information. Patient medical records were not included, and this incident will not affect patient care. Despite our extensive investigation, to date, we have been unable to locate the thumb drive.