From the hospital’s site:
Memorial Hospital Reports Inadvertent Disclosure
Posted Date: February 28, 2018
GULFPORT, Miss. —Memorial Hospital at Gulfport has notified approximately 1,500 patients of an inadvertent disclosure of information, including patient names and internal (Memorial) encounter numbers, that was discovered during a routine internal audit. No financial information, Social Security numbers, diagnoses, symptoms, nor other demographic information was disclosed.
The disclosure occurred in connection with the transmission of information within the hospital that was inadvertently sent to a single, external email address as a result of a clerical input error. The error was immediately corrected upon discovery. The information sent by email was encrypted and would require a unique password to open.
Additionally, Memorial has been unable to confirm whether the email address was operational, or whether the information was received by the unintended recipient. Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, Memorial has reported the matter to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“We take the security and privacy of our patients’ information very seriously and will continue to use our best efforts to prevent any unintended disclosures in the future,” said Gary G. Marchand, Memorial President/CEO.
*This media release is being issued in accordance with Federal Regulations at 45 C.F.R. §§ 164.400-414.