"On September 8, 2011, we learned that a locked tape storage cabinet containing computer backup tapes was missing," the delivery system said in a notice to patients. "We immediately began an investigation and now believe the cabinet was removed from our Wilmington facility on or about August 10, 2011, during a remodeling project. To date, we have been unable to locate the storage cabinet. We believe the cabinet contained three unencrypted backup tapes from a computer system we stopped using in 2004. No medical records were on the backup tapes, but they did contain patient billing information, including name, date of birth, insurance information, medical treatment information, and Social Security number." Some employee payroll data and vendor information, such as direct deposit bank account information, also was on the tapes.
Nemours is now moving toward encrypting backup tapes and moving non-essential backup tapes to a secure off-site storage facility. "We have no reason to believe that the cabinet was stolen or that the information on the backup tapes has been accessed or used improperly," according to the patient notice. "It would take highly specialized equipment and specific technical expertise to access any of the information on the tapes."
The delivery system began notifying patients on Oct. 7 and expects the process to be complete by Oct. 26. It is offering one year of paid credit monitoring and identity theft protection services.
My medical businesses had a data breaches in 2004-2006 (Virginia), but the Police did not take it seriously with Numerous horrific situations! I owned two medical equipment businesses but closed them both due to id thefts/data/security issues. I discovered a huge, huge database that had been built on the laptop my contract employee was using. Found was a huge database seemingly set up for billing for a huge hospital, VA or large military hospital probably for stolen medical records. The data consisted on information for ambulances, orthopedic surgery and so much more, however, my small business was selling limited medical equipment. I took this information to one of the larger hospitals to id the security breach but it was not their information. I was not able to find the correct hospital or may have possibly foiled the plan with the discovery. Again, my business was hit by having records, equipment and other things stolen. other medical businesses were hit around the same time to include hospitals and medical billing centers. It was my understanding that they had numerous computers stolen that were being used for billing purposes. The military base was put at risk too but NCIS did not take it seriously either. This involved a foreign family getting on base by using a stolen id and substituting the mom's picture in a patient's military id card and placing her signature in the signature card line rather than the real military dependent's signature. This information was given to the local police too. Also, in the same general area, the Employment Commission accepted 3-4 large garbage bags of stolen patient records and billing information as evidence that my former billing employee was 'trying' to bill. Instead of the Employment Commission doing something about the stolen records, the VEC Counselor told me and the employee to go outside and 'duke' it out! The VEC would not do anything regarding the stolen id thefts nor did the city attorney return my calls about the id thefts.
Later, I went into the Medical ID/Business ID Theft prevention business due to my own horrific situation and to help others. Please let me know if I can help. Thanks, Jane Meadows,M.S. idtheftdvd@gmail.com Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist/Registered Private Investigator listed on Linkedin website is what to do After your id is stolen,they know where you live and your assets. www.medicalrecordtheft.com