Massachusetts hospital reports major breach
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, July 26, 2010
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South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, MA, reported a breach Monday, July 19, involving lost back-up computer files that may contain personally identifiable information of approximately 800,000 individuals, according to a hospital press release.
The hospital reports that it has no evidence someone accessed the computer files. Further, a security consulting firm told the hospital it would take specialized software, hardware, and technical knowledge to access and decipher the files and ultimately view patient information.
The information on the back-up computer files may include:
- Individuals’ full names
- Addresses
- Phone numbers
- Dates of birth
- Social Security numbers
- Driver’s license numbers
- Medical record numbers
- Patient numbers
- Health plan information
- Dates of service
- PHI including diagnoses and treatments relating to certain hospital and home health care visits
Read the full report on the hospital’s Web site.
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