Reported By Stephanie Coueignoux
ORLANDO -- Thousands of patients' private information at Halifax Health could now be at risk for identity theft.
Investigators are trying to track down a laptop stolen from a hospital employee.
Officials said the stolen information includes billing information for 33,000 patients.
Hospital officials said in August, someone stole an employee's laptop out of his car.
While there is confidential information on the laptop, hospital officials said they are confident whoever stole the laptop will not be able to access the information.
Officials said the information is password protected, and they have no reason to believe any sort of identity theft has actually occurred.
News 13 spoke with a woman who said her patient information was on the laptop.
Lisa didn't want News 13 to show her face on camera or use her last name since she's already worried about who has access to her private information. She told News 13 she feels betrayed.
Lisa said when she signed the privacy act, she never thought her information would be at risk.
"It just doesn't make me feel really good about the hospital. I just feel like my rights have been violated. Where is my information? It left the hospital and went into some employee's hands and then into someone else's hands,” Lisa said. “And whether they can get into a computer with a pass code, we don't know that."
Lisa said it would be one thing if someone actually came into the hospital and stole the laptop, but she's upset employees are allowed to leave with confidential information.
According to Halifax Health, some employees are allowed to take their laptops home with them to finish up work.
There is no specific policy about allowing employees to leave their laptops in their car.
Because of this incident, the policy is currently being reviewed.
So far, officials said the employee did not violate any policies.
Halifax Health is working with Orange County law enforcement to try and track the computer down.
Hospital officials are encouraging anyone who believes their information might be at risk to call their customer service number.
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