Wisc. breach affects 42K
Nearly 42,000 members of a Wisconsin health insurance group have been notified that their protected health information may have been compromised following a HIPAA privacy breach.
Unity Health Plans Insurance Corporation, which serves about 140,000 members, discovered that an unencrypted portable computer hard drive containing health records of 41,437 individuals went missing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy. Officials say the school had this information as part of a benefits program evaluation.
The device contained member names, dates of birth, name of prescription drugs and dates of service.
"We are sorry this happened and want to provide pertinent information concerning the occurrence along with the steps we are taking to minimize any potential impact," read a Jan. 30 company notice.
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.