Anna Gorman reports;
Temple Community Hospital in Los Angeles is warning about 600 patients that their personal and medical information was taken earlier this summer.
The theft occurred in early July, when someone stole a computer from a locked office in the radiology department, hospital staff announced Friday. The computer contained CT scans of patients, their names, the reason for the scans and the patients’ hospital account numbers.
Read more on Los Angeles Times.
A statement, prominently linked from the hospital’s home page, says:
Temple Community Hospital is contacting patients to inform them that on July 3, 2012, a computer used to store CT examination images was discovered stolen from a locked office in the Radiology Department. The computer contained images taken from January 1, 2012-July 2, 2012. To date the device has not been recovered. The intent of the theft appears to be to steal the computer components and not access any of the information.
The information contained on the computer consisted of pictures of CT scans performed this year, the reason for the scan, the patients’ names, the ordering doctor’s names, and the patients’ hospital account numbers. There was NO financial information, social security numbers, or personal contact information on the computer. The data that was on the computer was also backed-up regularly, so no data has been lost and all scans are still available through the Hospital.
Temple Community Hospital has continued to upgrade its security measures to help prevent future untoward events such as happened in July. If anyone believes they had a CT Scan during this time period and has not received communication from the hospital or has any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Director of Health Information at 213 382-7252 ext. 327 Monday through Friday 9-5pm or use the toll free number of 888 633-6122 to leave a message.