Patient info improperly used in radiology AI research, academic institution says
Private patient information was improperly used in recent radiology artificial intelligence research, according to an alert from Weill Cornell Medicine shared on Thursday.
The noted New York City-based institution says it first found out about the incident on Sept. 6, immediately launching an investigation to determine what happened. It learned that unnamed individuals entered patient info from Weill Cornell Imaging at NewYork-Presbyterian and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital into AI tools for processing using machine learning.
This was done without patient permission, in violation of the academic institution’s privacy policies, according to a notice shared on Nov. 5.
“Weill Cornell deeply regrets any concern this incident may cause,” the alert reads. “We take the confidentiality and security of our patients' information very seriously and are continuing to expand our extensive security measures including providing additional training.”
The information included medical record and radiology accession numbers (internally used to identify images), dates, times of service, facility and healthcare provider names. AI also improperly processed clinical information relating to patients’ radiological exams, such as diagnoses, treatment plans, procedural histories, and other medical information. However, patients’ names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers and financial details were not disclosed, the institution emphasized.
Weill Cornell Medicine said it has not found evidence that unauthorized individuals were able to access private patient information. The data were limited and there is no indication information was misused, the notice emphasized.
Weill Cornell says it has suspended the research activity and requested that all involved data are deleted. It also is providing additional education to staff to reinforce compliance with internal requirements for the appropriate use of AI and protection of sensitive patient information.
Located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Weill Cornell is one of the nation’s top-ranked medical and graduate schools. It handled nearly 3.6 million annual patient encounters, has collected over 1,300 National Institutes of Health grants, and has 1,800-plus enrolled students. Weill Cornell did not disclose who misused the radiology patient data nor the focus of the related research.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.