NurseWeek

Missing records at cancer institute follow Kaiser glitch

Wire Services
August 11, 2000


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Boston. Confidential personal information, including names and social security numbers, may have been stolen from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's electronic administrative records system, according to a hospital spokesman.

A former temporary employee of the hospital pleaded not guilty to charges this week that she stole patient information to open a long-distance telephone account and ran up more than $2,000 in charges.

Officials from the clinic said they have reason to believe that other patients may have been affected, but added that no patient records were tampered with. The hospital is working closely with Boston police to solve the case.

Meanwhile, Kaiser Permanente is still reeling from an incident in which several hundred e-mails containing sensitive patient information were sent to the wrong addresses.

Kaiser has apologized to all the patients involved, and Dana-Farber has notified all of its patients to let them know that private information may have been stolen from their records.

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