While I was away, HHS updated its breach tool again. As is often the case, some of their new entries are breaches we knew about already:
- University of Florida
- University of Rochester Medical Center & Affiliates
- Presbyterian Anesthesia Associates PA/E-dreamz
- Comfort Dental
- Regional Medical Center
- Piedmont HealthCare, P.A/E-dreamz
- Sonoma Valley Hospital
- Dent Neurologic Group, LLP
Some of the breaches had not been previously noted on this blog:
- Independence Care System in New York notified 2,434 patients because a laptop stolen on May 7 contained their PHI. I could not find any statement on their site or through Google, and emailed them for a statement, but have not received a reply as of the time of this posting. (See UPDATE, here).
- Health Resources of Arkansas notified 1,900 patients of a breach that occurred April 14. I was able to locate a copy of their June 6 media release on their site:
June 6, 2013
Media Notification: Potential Breach of Confidentiality
Health Resources of Arkansas announces a potential breach of confidentiality compromising of 1911 patient records housed at 115 W Clinton Street in Heber Springs, Arkansas.
On April 14, 2013, staff discovered that this location had been burglarized. This office contained information considered PHI and confidential. The type of information stored there included name, address, date of birth, social security number, diagnosis, type of treatment, class attended, court information, services provided, or insurance information of persons served by that location. None of the PHI or confidential information was missing and there was no indication that any information was retained for identity theft purposes. The suspects took equipment and personal staff items.
Based on mandatory privacy statues, persons affected by this potential breach of confidentiality will be mailed notification the week of May 20, 2013. This notification will also include detailed information on steps impacted individuals should take to protect themselves from potential harm. A notice will also be placed on our website at healthresourcesofarkansas.com.
HRA takes client privacy very seriously. Policies and procedures were followed, including our policy stating all PHI must be locked. Regardless, all staff has been reminded of the importance of keeping all client information confidential and locked.
[…]
- Integrity Oncology, an office of Baptist Medical Group in Tennessee notified 539 patients after an incident on March 5 affecting their business associate, North Atlantic Telecom. I could find no documentation on any of the sites about this incident and have emailed Integrity Oncology to request the details, but have received no response as of the time of this posting.
- The City of Norwood in Ohio notified 500 people after a laptop was lost sometime between April 4 and April 19; the laptop contained their PHI. Again, I could find no documentation on their web site, nor even a media contact email address, so I’m not sure what happened with this breach.
The Health Resources of Arkansas notification is interesting, though, isn’t it? Their statement seems to be saying that they did everything right, and will continue doing everything right – but then how does that reassure us that they will make another burglary involving PHI less likely? I wonder what HHS will think of their statement.