Health Information Management

Thousands of doctors' information on stolen laptop

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, October 19, 2009

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!

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.



Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!

Most Popular

Related Articles