The best way for hospitals to secure patient records is by going digital and utilizing an online document storage system. Coney Island Hospital (CIH) learned this the hard way in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, when ruined patient records and computers were carelessly removed from one of its destroyed locations and sensitive information relating to thousands of patients was put at risk.
The Ida G. Israel Community Health Center, located on Neptune Avenue in Brooklyn, was wrecked during the superstorm and the New York’s Health & Hospitals Corporation (HHC) chose to end CIH’s lease at that location and move patient services somewhere else. On December 3, 2012, however, the landlord of the former clinic “prematurely authorized the removal of debris,” which included patient records, files and computers, without informing the hospital, and all attempts on the part of CIH to recover the lost documents and equipment were unsuccessful. Contained within in the files was information like names of patients, dates of birth, addresses, medical record numbers, patient numbers, and even credit card and Social Security numbers. The HHC notified the public about the security breach and reached out to more than 9000 patients. In order to help CIH patients protect themselves against identity theft, the HHC also set up a toll-free hotline.
The missing computers were likely ruined by the saltwater tides, but if any survived, encryption would have likely have prevented access to the scanned documents and files. But for the boxes of paper documents, it would be impossible to ensure the security of the information contained in them. Had the hospital considered scanning medical records, thousands of patients would not be burdened with worry about identity theft and lost medical histories. Natural disasters like hurricanes are becoming increasingly frequent on the Eastern seaboard. As a result, scanning documents and files is now essential for any major institution in order to prevent the loss of critical data and ensure the security of private information.