GEORGIA (UPDATE) COMPUTER STOLEN http://laptop.firstblogfirst.com/2010/12/21/centra-notifies-nearly-14000-patients-after-laptop-theft/

Centra notifies nearly 14000 patients after laptop theft

(Source: The News & Advance)By Bryan Gentry, The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.

Dec. 20–A laptop stolen in Alpharetta, Ga., in November held the names and billing information of nearly 14,000 Centra patients, the Lynchburg-based hospital system announced Monday.

The computer files did not contain Social Security numbers or other information that could be used in identity theft, nor medical history information, Centra officials said. They are implementing new security measures to safeguard patient data.

“Our policy is to do everything to secure it in the best method possible,” said Centra Director of Compliance Juan DeLeon.

The laptop was stolen on Nov. 11. An employee was in Georgia for a training conference and left the computer in the trunk of a rented car, said Centra spokeswoman Susan Brandt.

Someone broke into the car and stole the laptop and some of the employee’s belongings that night, Brandt said.

DeLeon said the employee notified police, but the police have not told Centra of any progress in the investigation.

On Friday, Centra sent letters to 13,964 patients whose information may have been stored on the laptop. That represents about 2.5 percent of Centra’s entire patient population, Brandt said.

Federal law requires health care providers to notify patients within 60 days of data being stolen.

It took some time to determine whose information may have been on the laptop and also to track down their addresses, since their contact information was not included in the laptop’s files, DeLeon said.

“We certainly didn’t do it just because we’re required to do it, but we did it because it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

The stolen laptop was password-protected, and DeLeon said it is not likely that someone could access the files on its hard drive.

If someone did reach the file with patient data, they would not find Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, addresses or phone numbers, medical treatment information or credit card data, Brandt said.

The file contains an internal Centra billing number, the patient’s name, the amount being billed to an insurer, and codes that identify the insurer.

Since the theft, Centra has reviewed privacy measures with employees, reminding them to store patient data on Centra’s network servers, not on individual computers, DeLeon said.

Centra had already started adding an extra layer of data encryption to its laptops, but it has sped up that process, DeLeon said.

“We’re already almost completely done,” he said. The encryption “makes it virtually impossible for anyone to break into the hard drive and decipher the information without the proper credentials.”

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