Canadian-based LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services has notified more than 16,000 patients in Kamloops, B.C., that their protected health information has been compromised after a computer hard drive containing patient data went missing. 

 

According to a company notification, the computer hard drive contained patients' names, addresses, dates of birth, personal health numbers, genders, results of ECG tests and their referring physicians. Officials say the hard drive went missing in January and has been missing since. Following an internal investigation, the company has been unable to determine the whereabouts of the hard drive or exactly when the hard drive was removed.

 

[See also: Stanford reports fifth big HIPAA breach.]

 

Notification letters to 16,100 patients were mailed June 21, officials say. LifeLabs has also informed the B.C. Ministry of Health and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. 

 

“I am deeply sorry for the concerns or difficulties this situation creates for our patients, our employees, health professionals and the Kamloops community,” said Sue Paish, president and CEO of LifeLabs, in a June 24 press statement. “LifeLabs manages more than 50 million patient records a year. We understand the importance of personal information, and we know that the protection of personal information is extremely important to all of our patients.”

 

[See also: ISU hands over $400K for HIPAA violation.]

 

Following the company’s internal investigation, LifeLabs has instituted a number of remedial measures to minimize the risk that this type of incident could occur in the future, including ensuring that all ECG reports and the ECG drives are fully encrypted.

 

“While we believe the chance of patient information being compromised is very small, we have taken steps to minimize the likelihood that an incident like this could ever happen again. We are constantly strengthening our practices to avoid such incidents and continue to improve the safety and security of personal health information,” added Sue Paish.