Knoxville's Blount Memorial Hospital has begun notifying 27,000 patients whose personal information was compromised by the theft of an employee's laptop computer in August. The laptop was reported stolen during a burglary at the staffer's Knoxville residence Aug. 25, said Blount Memorial spokeswoman Jennie Bounds. The password-protected laptop contained registration records from Blount Heart Consultants on approximately 22,000 patients—including their names, dates of birth, responsible party names, addresses, physician names and billing information.