Calif. breach reveals Social Security numbers of 18K physicians

Laura Pedulli | | Health Exec | Cybersecurity

A data breach in California compromised the Social Security numbers of about 18,000 physicians.

Blue Shield of California accidentally released the information as part of its required monthly filings to the state's Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC). The filings include physicians’ names, business addresses, business phone numbers, medical group names, and practice areas.

Social Security numbers were inadvertently not removed when these public records were made available in response to requests from insurers, insurers’ attorneys and two members of the media.

The DMHC told affected physicians in a letter that it does not believe the information was misused. However, it is offering a one-year free membership to an identity theft service.

DMHC and Blue Shield “have instituted additional protections to safeguard against future inadvertent disclosure of confidential personal information.” These include the installation of data loss prevention software, and training efforts to health plans to ensure they do not inadvertently disclose confidential information in otherwise public documents.

Read the notification letter here.

Laura Pedulli

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