Medical records in Garbage Truck and Landfill – Baptist Medical Center in Alabama

One more story of not disposing medical records according to HIPAA standards. It seems between reporting the data issues and paper issues, the paper breaches seem to be winning with more paper being found. The hospital stated they used a 3rd party company to dispose of the records and when they looked further, there were records from up to 5 hospitals in the landfill. First the records were in the garbage truck and then further on to the dump. Last week we had Blue Cross shipping a box of medical records to a woman in Florida.

Health Insurers Promote Paperless Records – Why Did Blue Cross ship a box full of Paper Records with Sensitive Medical Records to a Woman in Florida – Security Breach!

It seems to appear that nobody likes to shred any more. Every EMR/EHR system should include at least one shredder in the price. BD

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - When Terri Neill and Ricky Holmes dropped off some trash in front of Cramton Bowl on Saturday, they stumbled across some folders.

It's not clear if Baptist Health is to blame for all this, since the hospital does use a third party to dispose of some its records.

A hospital spokesman says he was shocked by the find, saying in a statement, "The discovery of files at the landfill over the weekend is a serious concern. We will launch a formal investigation into the matter once the records are obtained [...]."

stumbled across some folders.

These folders didn't look like they belonged around a garbage truck.

"There were medical files inside the truck and all over the ground around the truck. Files with names, numbers, and information," Neill said.

They found folder upon folder, labeled "Radiology Department, Baptist Medical Center, and they were by no means empty.

It's not clear if Baptist Health is to blame for all this, since the hospital does use a third party to dispose of some its records.

A hospital spokesman says he was shocked by the find, saying in a statement, "The discovery of files at the landfill over the weekend is a serious concern. We will launch a formal investigation into the matter once the records are obtained [...]."