A memory stick containing the personal information of 1,500 patients went missing from the Saint John Regional Hospital last November. Google Streetview

The Horizon Health Network is reviewing how patient information is handled after a memory stick was lost at the Saint John Regional Hospital.

A memory stick was lost in November 2010, containing the personal information of 1,500 pediatric endocrinology patients.

Affected patients were alerted to the problem earlier this month, once the memory stick was reported missing.

A lost memory stick is a first for the health authority — but the fact that it happened at all has some doctors questioning the use of digital health records.

A family practice in Millidgeville hasn't made a lot of adaptations over the years to its storage of health records.

Dr. Mike Simon said he likes to keep it simple, despite the advancements that are available.

"My system is hard copy — paper, and it's worked for me and many doctors in the city who still use it," Simon said. "It's awfully hard to lose an entire filing cabinet. So we're quite secure with the information we have and we don't envision changing too much in the future."

Officials with the Health Authority say they're confident the stick wasn't stolen, but they're already drafting a new policy around storing electronic files.

New file storage policy

"We reviewed information, handling practices, and we found from that, that we required another policy that would talk about electronic personal health information, that it would be stored on our Horizon secured computer network, so this is under development," said Nancy Lindsay, the chief privacy officer with Horizon Health.

Simon said the incident at the hospital leaves him even more leery of making the switch to digital record-keeping.

"What concerns me as a physician is private medical information — infectious disease, injuries, past mental health — these things could be damaging to people and we want to keep this information closed and protected," said Simon.

Horizon's new policy on storing physician files electronically will be ready soon.

Officials say it will focus on safe handling practices and will not include memory sticks as an option.