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Hospital billing records stolen from courier's vehicle

Healthcare Security Weekly, June 16, 2008

Billing records of 2.2 million people at the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics were stolen from a courier’s vehicle earlier this month.

The backup information tapes included Social Security numbers of 1.3 million people who were patients at the university over the past 16 years, reported the Associated Press (AP). A courier picked up the records on June 1, but instead of taking them to a storage center, he worked a second job and then went home, a Salt Lake County deputy sheriff said. The next day he discovered someone had broken into his vehicle and taken the box containing the records.

The man, who worked for the storage company for 18 years, was fired. The hospital is notifying those affected by the theft by letter and will offer them free credit monitoring. In addition to patient information, the records also contained information for people responsible for paying for treatment, such as parents of minors.

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