Data of 4k at risk after breach at Michigan health facility

Patient health information may have been stolen from The University of Michigan Health System (UMHS).

How many victims? 4,000

What type of personal information? Medication, demographic and health information of patients at three hospitals who were seen between Oct. 24 and Nov. 13. Addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card, debit card or bank account numbers were not put at risk.

What happened? Omnicell, a Mountain View, Calif.-based medication management vendor, notified UMHS on Nov. 20 that an unsecured electronic device containing patient information was stolen from the vehicle of one of its employees the week before.

What was the response? Letters were sent to patients advising them to monitor their medical insurance statements for anomalous activity, and a toll-free number was set up to assist. Omnicell continues its investigation and authorities are attempting to find the lost device.

Quote: “Patient privacy is extremely important to us, and we take this matter very seriously,” said Jeanne Strickland, chief compliance officer, UMHS. “UMHS has taken immediate steps to investigate this matter.”

Source: www.freep.com, Detroit Free Press, Stolen health information affects 4,000 University of Michigan Health System patients, Dec. 21, 2012