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HHS updates data breach list

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 28, 2010

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The latest update to the Health and Human Services website that lists data breaches affecting 500 or more patients shows the number of incidents since September 2009 is nearing 100.

The department updates the list as it receives information. The latest addition bring the total number of organizations that experienced a breach to 99 as of June 17, affecting more than 3.4 million individuals.

The largest reported breach was a December 2009 incident when two laptops were stolen from AvMed, a Florida-based insurer, with data on about 1.2 million people. The next largest incident occurred in October 2009 at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, where hard drives with data on nearly 1 million people were stolen.

Physician practices and other health care organizations are required to notify HHS if they have a breach that affects more than 500 people. Breach information -- including organization, location, nature of the breach and number of people affected -- are posted on the HHS website (link).

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/06/28/bibf0628.htm.

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