Sig Christenson fills in some details on a breach that occurred last year and was first revealed on HHS‘s web site in February:
Brooke Army Medical Center late Tuesday revealed that the personal health records of 1,272 patients may have been compromised because of a car break-in.
The hospital reported that a three-ring Army binder was removed this past fall from the parked car of an unidentified BAMC case manager.
A two-page news release issued Tuesday evening did not say if the car was on the hospital grounds or elsewhere at Fort Sam Houston at the time of the theft or somewhere in San Antonio.
“The binder may have contained the names, home addresses, home telephone numbers and patient health information on soldiers and their families,” the release stated.
I wonder about the following statement:
The release said that the theft, which occurred Oct. 16, wasn’t reported to the media until now because of “a recent change to federal law.”
The way that is worded, it might almost erroneously suggest that the breach wasn’t reported to the media previously because federal law prevented reporting it to the media until a “recent change.” From what I read, it seems that the breach wasn’t reported to the media until federal law firmly required it.
Had BMAC read the HHS web site, this blog, or other blogs that have been reporting on HHS’s revelations, they might have gotten the press release out in February instead of first issuing it now.
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