University of Rochester Medical Center Doctor Loses Flash Drive Containing Patient Inforamtion

Submitted by Adam Dodge on Fri, 2010-09-03 04:57

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Abstract
The Univeristy of Rochester Medical Center is working to notify patients after a doctor lost a flash drive containing patient information. The flash drive, which belonged to Dr. Jeffery Peters, contained the names, birth dates and diagnosis of some patients. Dr. Peters cannot recall which of his 837 patients were on the flash drive so letters have been sent to all of them. According to Teri D'Agostino, Dr. Peters and others attempted to locate the flash drive for 3 weeks before notifying medical center officials. "He's deeply concerned by that. These are his own patients, this is his practice, this is his image, and he cares about that. So we applaud him for coming forward," said D'Agostino. Jeffery Powell, the URMC CIO, said they medical center will being looking into encryption for all computers and flash drives.