On Thursday, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center began notifying patients that an unencrypted laptop computer containing patient data was stolen in April, the Houston Business Journal reports.
Breach Details
Dan Fontaine -- M.D. Anderson senior vice president for business affairs -- said that the laptop was stolen from a physician's home on April 30.
He said it contained data on nearly 30,000 patients (Pulsinelli, Houston Business Journal, 6/28).
According to an M.D. Anderson release, data on the computer included:
- Medical record numbers;
- Patient names;
- Social Security numbers; and
- Treatment and research information (LaFave Grace, Modern Healthcare, 6/28).
Fontaine said that the data were not consistent among all patients (Houston Business Journal, 6/28).
He said, "We have no reason to believe that the computer was stolen for the information it contained" (Berger, Houston Chronicle, 6/28).
Response From Center
A spokesperson for the center said notification letters began going out Thursday to potentially affected patients.
In addition, M.D. Anderson said that a criminal investigation is ongoing and that it is working with law enforcement officials to recover the laptop (Modern Healthcare, 6/28).
Fontaine said M.D. Anderson is offering no-cost credit monitoring services to patients whose Social Security numbers were on the laptop.
Meanwhile, M.D. Anderson said it has boosted efforts to encrypt its devices (Houston Business Journal, 6/28).