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University of Houston College of Optometry Clinic Posts Breach Alert

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Dissent

Alert posted on University of Houston College of Optometry‘s web site:

La Nueva Casa de Amigos Eye Clinic, a neighborhood clinic of the University of Houston College of Optometry, has notified about 7,000 individuals of a potential data exposure involving a computer containing clinic patient records.  The university is not aware of any wrongful use of the information, and there is no evidence that the patient records were in fact viewed or copied.  Information Technology personnel implemented immediate network and system configuration changes in response to this incident.

The patient records, which date from January 2006 to Feb. 23, 2012, include health information, contact information and other personal information, but do not include social security, credit card or driver’s license numbers.  The breach was limited to a single computer.  No other clinic or university systems were affected.

La Nueva Casa de Amigos Eye Clinic has established a toll-free number, (855) 834-1606, to answer questions from affected individuals.

The University of Houston and the College of Optometry take privacy issues regarding health information and other personal data very seriously and are engaged in a careful review of this matter.

An FAQ on the incident explains:

On February 23, 2012, staff at La Nueva Casa de Amigos Eye Clinic, an affiliated clinic of the University of Houston College of Optometry, became aware that a clinic computer had been wrongfully accessed and information in the Clinic’s patient records database had been deleted. The patient records were from January 2006 to February 23, 2012, and contained health information, contact information and other personal information, but did not include social security, credit card or driver’s license numbers.

The attacker, who reportedly originated from overseas (although IPs can be spoofed) reportedly had access for a 24-hour period.

The information in the patient records varied, but typically contained health information in the form of diagnosis and treatment information, vision test results, letters to/from referring doctors and medical and vision history information. The patient records typically also included information regarding patient name, address, phone number(s), date of birth, gender, languages spoken, insurance information, cost of service or goods purchased, method of payment, occupation/job, future appointments and current medications. No Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, driver’s license numbers or financial information were contained in the patient records.

Although data were deleted from the system, backups enabled the restoration of the data.

Read UH’s April 2oth letter to patients and the FAQ.

via The Daily Cougar

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Category: Health Data

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