Wis. clinic breach linked to cleaners

A Wisconsin medical clinic that sits close to the border of Minnesota has notified about 2,400 clients of a breach of unsecured personal information.

River Falls Medical Clinic says the breach occurred after clinic officials reported stolen equipment to the River Falls Police in the summer of 2012, according to an article published in River Falls Journal. Police investigated and found the stolen equipment, as well as paper documents containing patient-identifying information in the suspect’s home on Nov. 28. Police also found stolen items taken from City Hall and the public library.

The suspected thief, Gordon A. Eckes II, 35, who was employed by an outside cleaning service, has since been charged with two felonies for stolen property, one methamphetamine felony and two misdemeanors for marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession.

Eckes allegedly took paper documents from medical clinic bins that stored documents intended to be shredded, according to the article. These documents contained personal information, such as the patient’s first and last name, date of birth, certain patient account/billing account information such as diagnosis codes, scheduling information, insurance information, account numbers and medical chart numbers. Some documents also contained patient Social Security Numbers, home addresses and phone numbers. All of these records were returned to the clinic.

Since learning of the theft, the clinic has been analyzing the risk posed to patients and has verified that both the electronic and paper medical records were secure. It also has modified its policy and procedures concerning placement of shred documents and verified the credentials of all of its cleaning and other personnel.