Dec. 15 – Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates announced today an incident involving the theft of old business records from an off-site storage facility, which included in the material unauthorized access to certain personal protected health information from the years 2006 and 2007. The Lewisville Police Department ultimately recovered the boxes of stolen records. Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates offers a range of orthopaedic services in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The data potentially subject to unauthorized disclosure through this theft included the patient’s name, address, and office medical record number. In some cases, social security number, credit card number, or banking information was involved.
On October 17, 2016, Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates discovered that boxes of old business records from the years 2006 and 2007 were stolen from their storage unit, but later discovered in a hotel room along with other stolen property. Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates immediately removed all items out of this storage, alerted banks of possible fraudulent activity, started an investigation into the incident, and hired a legal team to determine the extent of the unauthorized access and whether the personal information of its patients may have been accessed. Although the information contained in the storage boxes may have been accessed, Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates has no evidence that such data has been misappropriated to date.
Letters to those potentially impacted by the incident have been mailed. These letters include an explanation of the incident, an offer of one year of free identity protection and restoration services, and information about additional ways impacted individuals can better protect themselves. Although it had no previous difficulty with this storage location, in terms of security, all records have been removed from this storage facility to prevent any further theft at the location.
Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates understands the importance of safeguarding their patients’ personal information and takes that responsibility very seriously. The office regrets that this incident has occurred, and is committed to prevent future such occurrences.
To Learn More
Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates have established a dedicated assistance line for anyone seeking additional information regarding this incident, as well as steps to better protect against identity theft. For the next 90 days, this assistance line can be reached at 844-258-5499, Monday – Friday, 9 am – 9 pm EST.
Identity Protection Tips
Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates recommends that potentially impacted individuals enroll in the complimentary identity protection and restoration services. In addition, Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates recommends that impacted patients review their account statements regularly for any suspicious activity.
SOURCE: Oak Cliff Orthopaedic Associates