A dental clinic in Wisconsin recently suffered a healthcare data breach after theft incident. Flash drive containing patient information was stolen. According to the reports, flash drive stored dental information of patients.
Potentially exposed information included names, dental patient identification numbers, dates of visits, and dental insurance identification numbers. Financial information was not contained on the flash drive, confirmed Oneida Health Center. Flash drive was stolen from its office.
According to the statement,
“If affected individuals have broader concerns regarding their information, they may also contact one of the three major credit bureaus (below) to place a fraud alert on their credit report. Once one credit bureau confirms the fraud alert, the other two credit bureaus will automatically be notified to place alerts. “
Theft incident affected around 2,700 individuals. Onieda Health Center stated the scope of incident is limited. Also, there is no indications that the data was misused or inappropriately disclosed. Facility requested patients to notify their dental insurance companies and monitor for identity theft.
Local law enforcement is working to solve the case and notified all affected individuals of the security incident.
“To prevent a reoccurrence of this type of isolated internal incident, we are implementing the following measures: Reviewing and implementing administrative procedures regarding the use of flash drives and implementing appropriate technological safeguards concerning their security and storage,”
explained the press release.
According to the reports, personal identifying data, financial information, social security information, claims information, or any other diagnosis/ treatment information was not present on the stolen flash drive. Also, the information was related only to specific dental category and information from any other departments within the Oneida Health Center was not involved.
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