When I saw “Spartanburg” in the news story, I thought this was an update on the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center breach reported on this blog previously, but the SRMC breach occurred March 28, and this incident occurred in April:
A laptop stolen from a Foothills Nephrology employee’s vehicle in late April contained patient names and medical information, but the office is assuring its patients that the theft poses only a minimal risk.
Letters were mailed to 1,280 patients after one of the practice’s employees informed staff that an office laptop computer was stolen from his vehicle the night of April 27. According to a news release from Foothills Nephrology, located at 126 Dillon Drive, Spartanburg, information on the computer was password protected and contained patients’ names, dates of birth and clinical information. The computer did not contain Social Security numbers, insurance information or addresses, the release stated.
The employee, identified by the office as a physician, was authorized to take the computer out of the building.
“I don’t think there’s anything to be concerned about as far as ID theft,” said Regina Lambert, practice manager and security officer. “We are doing everything we can do to protect the patient.”
[…]
The web site for Foothills Nephrology is currently not accessible, so I don’t know if there’s a copy of their notice or news release on their site, but I’ll check back later.