Beth Israel reports potential data breach

By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is notifying more than 2,000 of its patients that some of their personal information may have been stolen from a hospital computer.

The hospital said today that an unnamed computer service vendor had failed to restore proper security settings on the computer after performing maintenance on it. The machine was later found to be infected with a computer virus, which transmitted data files to an unknown location.

The computer contained medical record numbers, names, genders, and birth dates of 2,021 patients, as well as the names and dates of radiology procedures they’d undergone. But the computer didn’t contain the patients’ financial data or their Social Security numbers, which can be used to steal identities and defraud banks.

“We are grateful no Social Security numbers or financial information were released, and apologize for the inconvenience and deeply regret any concern this situation may cause,” said John Halamka, the hospital’s chief information officer.

Halamka said the virus transmitted information in an encrypted form, so the hospital does not know exactly what might have leaked, but wanted to inform patients anyway. “We just wanted to be ultra-careful,” he said.

The hospital will provide affected patients with one year of free identity protection service. For more information, patients can contact the hospital at 877-615-3765.

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.