VA breach affects 535,000
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, February 19, 2007
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An investigation by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) into a missing hard drive has revealed that the drive contained sensitive information on approximately 535,000 individuals. A press release did not specify whether these people are patients of the VA.
A VA employee reported the backup hard drive missing on January 22. The department has placed the employee on administrative leave pending the investigation's outcome.
The drive also contains records on 1.3 million non-VA physicians. The department uses these data to track the care that VA beneficiaries receive relative to the rest of the population. Most of this information is already publicly available, according to the VA.
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