Radiology lab loses hard drive with 9K medical records
Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham, Massachusetts, lost a portable hard drive containing the personal information and images of more than 9,000 patients who have received a bone density scan in the past eight years. Staff at the facility noticed the missing unencrypted storage device in November.
“There are no leads on where the hard drive went,” Brian Parillo, executive director of Charles River Medical Associates, said in an interview to MetroWest Daily News in Framingham. “We’ve looked everywhere in the building, spoken to every person who works there and nobody knows.”
Names, birth dates, patient identification numbers and bone density scan images were listed on the storage device. Insurance information and social security numbers were not.
Letters were mailed to patients whose medical records were compromised. The practice has asked patients to take steps “to guard against any potential negative impact from this unfortunate incident.”
The search for the missing hard drive has concluded. The company said it will evaluate its security protocols and will not use unencrypted storage moving forward.
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As a senior news writer for TriMed, Subrata covers cardiology, clinical innovation and healthcare business. She has a master’s degree in communication management and 12 years of experience in journalism and public relations.