Sometimes it takes a while to find documentation on breaches posted on HHS’s public breach tool. Here are some details on two breaches added to their site this month:
Blaine Chiropractic Center – MN
On July 14, HHS posted an entry for Blaine Chiropractic Center in Minnesota that affected 1,945 patients. The incident was coded as a HACK/IT Incident. I was finally able to locate the entity’s substitute notice from a local paper, and it’s a bit different than what you might have expected:
Information on possible unauthorized access of patient information.
Blaine Chiropractic Center takes the privacy of our patients very seriously. Accordingly, we want to let the public know about a recent incident that occurred which resulted in the possibility of unauthorized access to patient information.
On May 14, 2016, we discovered unauthorized software installed by an unknown person using a hidden administrator account. During our investigation, it was discovered that the administrator account had been created and subsequently made hidden by our third party software vendor at the point of installation of our patient record software. It is not known whether any patient information was in fact accessed. Information that could possibly have been accessed includes names, addresses, telephone number, email address, appointment activity, clinical care notes, insurance information, and social security numbers.
To address this situation, we have increased our technological monitoring and are revising our security practices and procedures.
Potentially affected patients will be receiving a letter explaining the situation and offering credit monitoring. Patients who wish to enroll in credit monitoring or who have other questions should contact Blaine Chiropractic Center’s Chief Privacy Officer at 763-757-1660 or via email at [email protected].
Access Health Care Physicians – FL
On July 19, Access Health Care Physicians in Florida reported that 2,500 patients were affected by a theft of paper/films.
The Tampa Bay Times reported the following on July 20:
Access Health Care Physicians has notified approximately 2,000 patients of a breach of unsecured personal patient protected health information following a break-in at the medical office of Dr. Imad Tarabishy, 11339 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville.
Records that were accessed may have contained patient names, dates of birth, home addresses, diagnosis codes, and/or insurance information.
[…]
For information about the breach, call (352) 277-5276, ext. 5534 from 8 a.m. to 5 pm Monday through Friday; e-mail [email protected], or send a letter to Access’ Compliance Department at 14690, Spring Hill Drive, Suite 203, Spring Hill, Florida 34609.
Note that there are a still a number of reports added to the breach tool in July for which we have no details. Inquiries have been sent to those with web sites or email addresses.
A hidden administrator account… created by a third party vendor, and then accessed.
Yeah… that’s not strange.
Yeah, I wondered about that, too. I sent an inquiry about that, but no response yet.