Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is notifying more than 2,000 patients of a data breach that occurred when a vendor performing computer maintenance did not restore security controls to a hospital computer, reports American Medical News. The computer was infected by a virus. Meanwhile, a Brigham and Womens/Faulkner Hospitals doctor accidentally left a hard drive in a cab that may have contained information on 638 patients, reports the Boston Herald. After an internal investigation, the hospital said the records--which include patient names, medications, diagnoses and treatments, among other data--had been deleted from the drive, but it is not sure whether they are still accessible. Both institutions are offering affected patients a year of identity theft protection.
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