Sometimes I find a breach listed on HHS’s public breach tool, but it’s a while before I can find out what happened. Such was the case with a breach reported by Michael S. Benjamin, MD, a California physician specializing in hematology and oncology.
On December 28, Dr. Benjamin notified HHS of a breach affecting 1,300 patients. Today, he ran a media notice that explained it:
Michael S. Benjamin, M.D. wants to alert his patients that in November 2015 thieves stole a small number of patient paper charts. The police were called immediately upon discovery of the theft. A suspect was identified and taken into custody, and the police recovered many stolen documents. The documents in the paper charts potentially accessed by thieves, though we do not have confirmation, included the following information: the patients’ names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, marital statuses, spouses’ names, Social Security numbers, referring physicians, insurance information, lab values, and height, weight, and blood pressure for each office visit. Please be advised that there is minimal medical information contained in the paper charts as our office uses a secure electronic medical record system that was undisturbed to store patient private medical information. We urge our patients to monitor closely all accounts and credit information. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Brittany Traugh, Office Manager at 818-570-2134.