South Shore Hospital will not send letters to alert 800,000 people that their personal, health and/or financial information may have been on computer back-up files that disappeared in July, according to a hospital statement posted on its website.
Instead, the Weymouth, Mass., hospital, along with Harbor Medical Associates and South Shore Physicians Hospital Organization, will publish notices in the state's largest newspaper and at each organization's website, as well as at hospital and physician offices. The decision came after hospital officials concluded that there was 'little to no risk' that information on the files could be accessed or misused. The computer files may have contained personal, health and financial data for 800,000 people, including patients, employees, physicians and vendors associated with the hospital.
South Shore, a private investigative team, and R+L Carriers, the company that transported the files for offsite destruction, looked in several states for two missing boxes of backup computer files. They believe the boxes were disposed of in a secure commercial landfill that R+L Carriers uses to dispose of unclaimed materials. If the tapes were found, the forensic computer experts concluded that special equipment, proprietary software and special knowledge would be needed to access and use the information on the files.
Under a large "expect more" logo on the hospital's website, a box reads: "Notice Concerning Potential Loss of Personal Information." That link leads to a hospital statement, answers to questions, investigation findings and a public notice, plus information on what consumers can do to protect their information.
To learn more:
- read the Huron Consulting Group's investigative report
- read South Shore Hospital's statement
- see the Boston Globe's article
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