Secure the Silver

While most healthcare organizations work on securing PHI there is usually one element that I’ve found that isn’t secured with the same rigor as most other physical PHI; X-rays. X-rays waiting for disposal companies to come and haul them away are usually left unsecured and not monitored. The problem is that individuals have found that they can recover the silver found within the film. While it isn’t a lot of silver (roughly 2% of the film’s weight) a few hundred pounds could make it a lucrative venture. That’s why it’s not surprising that thieves have begun stealing them. Let’s be honest here, when was the last time you checked the credentials of the crew coming to take away what you would consider to be garbage? The issue here isn’t that these films will be used for identity theft purposes, it’s that you are now forced to go through breach notification procedures at your cost… for what is technically considered refuse! Three organizations in Pennsylvania already had to go through this as they’d fallen victim to thieves stealing the films from unsecured areas, and in one instance posing as a radiological film destruction company. What can you do? Start securing X-rays and make sure they aren’t accessible to unauthorized parties, regardless whether the file is useful or scheduled for destruction. Many organizations store the X-rays near the equipment in semi-open rooms. If the rooms aren’t used 24×7 then you should either secure the room when not in use using your normal physical security system (key, badges, dragons, etc.) and monitoring equipment. If you don’t want to go to such extreme measures (I hear dragons eat a lot) then you may consider digitizing your x-rays and then securely dispose of the physical copies. Otherwise you may want to start recovering the silver yourself to help pay for the breach notification efforts you might find yourself facing.

Further reading:

• https://www.ehow.com/how_4501375_extract-silver.html
• https://www.ehow.com/facts_7786835_xray-silver-recovery.html
• https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/10/17/thieves-seeking-quick-steal-x-ray-film-from-area-hospitals/
• https://www.jeffersonhospital.org/Patients/scrap-x-ray-film-theft.aspx