Mailing error at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia leads to privacy breach
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, August 4, 2008
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia recently sent approximately 202,000 letters to the wrong recipients, a privacy breach that raises the specter of potential identity theft, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported July 29.
A change in computer systems is the cause of the glitch, according to the newspaper. The letters contained primarily benefit information, and included patient names and identification numbers, names of treating providers, and outstanding balances due. Blue Cross Blue Shield spokeswoman Cindy Sanders told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that some letters also contained Social Security numbers.
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has asked the insurer to provide free credit monitoring to those affected by the breach. Blue Cross Blue Shield also will remove all Social Security numbers from future mailings, according to the newspaper.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!
Comments
0 comments on “Mailing error at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia leads to privacy breach ”
Related Products
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Identify potential Medicaid RAC target areas
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Q&A: Follow CMS' coding guidelines when using modifier -25
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- CMS has reformulated payments for some bilateral procedures
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- Q/A. One injection code or two?
- ED-to-inpatient transfers are flawed with safety gaps
- Searched