Break-in at S.C. hospital puts hundreds of patient records at risk
More than 500 patient records are at risk following a break-in at the administrative offices of Self Regional Healthcare (SRH), a S.C.-based hospital.
Following Memorial Day weekend earlier this year, SRH staff discovered that two unauthorized individuals had broken into one of its facilities and stole a laptop. Both intruders have since been arrested. The thief confessed to the crime and stated that he destroyed and disposed of the laptop in a lake, but SRH and police have not yet recovered it, according to a SRH notice.
"We retained third-party computer forensic experts to assist with the investigation of this incident, even though the intruders admitted their actions to law enforcement and claimed never to have accessed the laptop,” SRH President and CEO Jim Pfeiffer said in a statement. As the laptop remains missing, “there is a possibility that someone may have accessed certain patients' protected health information.”
Protected health information at risk include patients' names, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, treating physician names, insurance policy numbers, patient account numbers, service dates, diagnosis/procedure information, payment card information, financial account information and possibly their addresses.
Affected individuals are receiving free access to a one-year membership of identity protection services, according to SRH.