Health Information Management

Indianapolis hospital had security lapse: 51,000 patients' information was available online

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, August 6, 2007

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Indianapolis' St. Vincent Hospital announced July 25 that 51,000 of its patients were victims of a security breach this past spring. St. Vincent only recently became aware of the breach, which occurred when a technician from the hospital subcontractor Verus, accidentally posted patient names, addresses, and social security numbers online. The hospital notified the 51,000 patients via a letter that also informs the victims that they will receive a free credit report and one year of free credit monitoring. St. Vincent claims that there was no medical information posted by Verus, and that the hospital has no evidence that anyone actually retrieved patients' information via the Internet, though it did not indicate the length of time that information remained online, according to the Indianapolis Star.

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