Editorial: LV Confidential: A run of six months

Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 | 4:18 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: Feb. 23, 2003

It's understandable how confidential medical information about patients at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center got into the hands of a Wisconsin businessman. What's not understandable is the response of hospital and state officials when they were informed of the glitch that compromised the privacy of at least 20 patients over a six-month period.

The businessman, an executive with a publishing company, has a toll-free voice line assigned to his office. It begins with 800 and the following seven numbers are identical to the final seven numbers of the toll-free fax line used at Sunrise. The Sunrise prefix, however, is 866. The hospital's line is dialed by doctors to send medical information on patients before they are admitted. With toll-free numbers normally beginning with 800, it's understandable how doctors' offices could sometimes mistakenly dial up the Wisconsin businessman. Of course, his voice line then begins ringing endlessly and to make it stop he has to plug his fax line into it. Then his fax begins spitting out pages of patient information. Contained on the pages are names, addresses, Social Security and health insurance numbers, the precise medical conditions of the patients and medicati on that has been prescribed.

The businessman, who says he has been shredding the documents, said he complained to Sunrise six months ago yet the problem persists. He said as recently as last week he received information on a patient suffering from manic depression. He said he also complained to the state Board of Medical Examiners, but that the person he spoke to showed no interest in rectifying the problem. After being contacted by the Sun, both the hospital and medical board said they would make resolution of this problem a priority. They also should make it a priority to find out why the complaints were not acted upon immediately.