Health Information Management

Thousands of doctors' information on stolen laptop

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, October 19, 2009

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Pittsburgh insurer Highmark, Inc., an affiliate of Blue Cross-Blue Shield, is notifying 50,000 doctors that their personal information may be exposed a laptop owned by a Blue Cross-Blue Shield Association worker was stolen this past summer, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Lisa Martinelli, Highmark, Inc.'s chief privacy officer, told the Tribune-Review the information included either Social Security numbers or tax identification numbers.

The employee unencrypted a database and downloaded provider information to a personal laptop. The laptop was stolen from the employee's vehicle in late August in Chicago, Blue Cross-Blue Shield Association headquarters.



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