On May 3, 2024, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) experienced an incident involving the loss of paperwork containing sensitive personal information. A workforce member misplaced documents that included both demographic and clinical details. Despite efforts to recover the lost paperwork, it remains unaccounted for, prompting the hospital to notify affected individuals.
The compromised documents contained various types of information, such as full names, addresses, phone numbers, medical record numbers, dates of birth, and clinical details like provider names and insurance information. To date, there is no evidence suggesting that the information has been misused or accessed by unauthorized parties.
As a Massachusetts resident, individuals affected by this incident have rights under state law, including the ability to obtain or file a police report and request a credit freeze. Brigham and Women’s Hospital has provided instructions on these actions in the notice to further protect individuals’ information.
The hospital has expressed regret for any inconvenience caused by the incident and reassured patients that measures are being taken to enhance security. BWH is committed to improving safeguards and continuing employee training to prevent future incidents of this nature.
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