Aultman Health Foundation posted a notice on its web site on August 6 concerning a stolen laptop that says, in part:
A password-protected laptop maintained by Aultman HealthCare in Your Home was stolen on June 7, 2010. A police report was filed at the time of the incident. The information on the laptop computer included some patient names, addresses, dates of birth, telephone numbers, social security numbers, insurance identification numbers and health information related to home health services. No credit card, debit card, or bank account numbers were in this information.
Due to several safeguards that were in place, Aultman does not believe that anyone has accessed or misused the information on the computer. However, in an abundance of caution, Aultman is taking steps to protect our patients’ information. We are sending letters to patients whose personal information might have been on the laptop. We are also offering these patients one year of free credit monitoring services.
We are taking this incident very seriously. Our goal is to prevent any further breaches of health information. We have taken the following actions to reduce the risk associated with the use of laptop computers:
- We revised our policy regarding the use of laptop computers by our employees and other health care professionals.
- We strengthened our password protection and enhanced the encryption on all laptops used by Aultman HealthCare in Your Home.
- We have provided the staff with additional education about how to secure their laptop computers.
Coverage of the breach in the Canton Rep on August 11 reported that 13,800 patients were affected by the incident.