OHSU contacting patients after theft

Oregon Health & Science University is contacting 4,022 patients after a laptop computer containing some of their personal information was stolen in late February.

The laptop was taken during a burglary at an OHSU surgeon’s vacation rental home in Hawaii, OHSU said in a news release Monday.

All of the patient information was located within an email program. Most of the patient information was contained within daily surgery schedules that are emailed to surgeons. Those schedules were for surgeries that took place in late 2012 through Feb. 20, 2013.

Information in those schedules was limited to patient names; OHSU patient medical record numbers; type of surgery; surgery dates, times and locations; patient gender and age; and names of the surgeon and anesthesiologist.

OHSU security investigators also determined that a small number of the approximately 5,000 emails contained Social Security numbers for a total of nine patients. Those patients are being offered free identity theft monitoring.

OHSU sent letters to the affected patients late last week. Those patients should receive letters in the mail within a week.