What may have been an innocent, but improper, storage of PHI on an employee’s personal laptop has led to a breach notification by East Bay Perinatal Medical Associates.
The only thing that might seem a tad concerning is that the breach was discovered by police who were apparently investigating an unrelated matter. The employee was not fired over the incident.
See what you think:
We hope this letter finds you well. We are writing to inform you that on June 2, 2015, we were contacted by the Berkeley Police Department regarding an employee. During the course of their investigation on an unrelated matter, an officer identified that a patient list was on the employee’s personal laptop. This list was created as part of the employee’s duties for cataloguing our 2012 records. The laptop was retained at Berkeley PD and the officer contacted East Bay Perinatal Medical Associates (EBPMA). The extent of the information pertaining to EBPMA was determined, and this information was permanently deleted from the employee’s hard drive by EBPMA’s Information Technology Security Consultant.
We are notifying you of this incident because although there is no evidence of fraudulent use, we believe your name was on the list. With regard to you, the document only contained your first and last name, and date of birth. Significantly and fortunately, no Social Security numbers, financial information, contact nor medical information was listed.
Please be assured that we have taken every step necessary to address the incident. We have re-trained our employees on our patient security practices, and have specifically addressed the matter with the employee. Though there does not appear to be any risk for identity theft, you may want to call the three major credit agencies and place a 90 day fraud alert. If so desired, their contact information is Equifax (800-525-6285), Experian (888-397-3742), and TransUnion (800-680-7289). You are also entitled to a free credit report every year from each of these agencies at www.annualcreditreport.com. In addition, if you are interested, we will provide you with identity theft protection at no cost to you for 1 year. Additional information about this service is enclosed with this letter.
Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. We understand how important confidentiality and trust is to our physician-patient relationship. Please feel free to contact 1-855-205-6940 to discuss any concerns or questions you may have. We have secured the services of Kroll, a global leader in risk mitigation and response, to assist us in this matter.
Sincerely,
East Bay Perinatal Medical Associates
Update: This incident was reported to HHS on July 29 by their attorney, who reported that 1,494 patients were impacted.