From a notice on Imperial Valley Family Care Medical Group‘s web site, dated May 11, 2016:
We are providing this public notice to you as part of Imperial Valley Family Care Medical Group’s commitment to patient privacy. We take patient privacy very seriously, and it is important to us that you are made fully aware of a potential privacy issue. On March 21, 2016 there was a burglary at the office of Dr. Sampat and a single laptop computer was taken from the premises. A police report of the incident was filed with the El Centro Police Department. We have discovered during our investigation of the incident that the laptop may have contained patient’s personal information, including name, address, date of birth, and personal health information. However, we have not received any indication that the information has been accessed or used by an unauthorized individual.
Please be assured that we have taken every step necessary to address the incident, and that we are committed to fully protecting all of the information that has been entrusted to us. We are keenly aware of how important a patient’s personal information is to them. As a result of the above incident and based on our investigation, personal information may have also included Social Security number, Driver’s license information or California identification card information (“Specified Information”). If patients choose, as a measure of added security, we are offering, those patients whose personal information included this Specified Information, one year of identity theft protection and credit monitoring and reporting services at no cost to patients identified in our investigation.
If patients have any questions concerning this notification or want information regarding the complimentary credit reporting services available, please contact 844-670-3821 and speak to Angelica Valenzuela, Privacy Officer or by email to [email protected].
There are additional actions you can consider taking to reduce the chances of identity theft or fraud on your account(s). Please refer to the final page of this letter.
We understand that this may pose an inconvenience to our patients. We sincerely apologize and regret that this situation has occurred. Imperial Valley Family Care Medical Group is committed to providing quality care, including protecting personal information, and we want to assure all of our patients that we have policies and procedures to protect their privacy. Should you have questions or concerns regarding this matter and/or the protections available to you, please do not hesitate to contact us at 760-355-7730.
Sincerely,
Donald G. Caudill Chief Strategic Officer
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