Thousand of patients warned about theft of personal information
Published: 2009-10-07 14:45:13
Author: Carol Ferguson | Bakersfield Now | September 22, 2009
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Thousands of patients at a Kern County health clinic have been warned their personal information could have been stolen.
A break-in happened at the Sagebrush Medical Plaza in July, and Kern Medical Center officials have notified 31,000 patients to take precautions against possible identity theft.
But some patients complain the warning came nearly two months after the information could have been compromised, and they're not getting help the county promised.
"I had some negative credit reporting on my credit report," Marvin Brown said. He recently got a letter from a company in a small Idaho town saying he owes them money. "I've never been to Idaho," he said.
It could be misinformation from some other source, but he's worried -- after he got the warning letter from Sagebrush that his patient information could have been among papers in a storage unit that was broken into.
The letters to patients are dated Sept. 2.
"One or more unknown individuals broke into a locked storage area that contained confidential patient information," reads the letter from Kern Medical Center. Sagebrush is part of KMC, and chief financial officer Fred Plane said they have no idea why anyone would take the paperwork.
KMC officials notified the California Department of Health Care Services about the incident. Plane said the state sent out an investigator who looked over what happened, and what security measures the clinic has taken. He said the state will issue a report, but it's not clear when that will happen. KMC could then face reprimands or fines.
Plane said all patient information has now been moved to a location inside the clinic building. It's located on Columbus Street in northeast Bakersfield.
Plane said the records had been stored in a large, locked metal trailer behind the clinic. He said the papers were patient billing information, not medical records. But, "several boxes" were found overturned The storage unit was in a fenced and gated area. "It had several layers of security," Plane said.
Full story
Published: 2009-10-07 14:45:13
Author: Carol Ferguson | Bakersfield Now | September 22, 2009
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Thousands of patients at a Kern County health clinic have been warned their personal information could have been stolen.
A break-in happened at the Sagebrush Medical Plaza in July, and Kern Medical Center officials have notified 31,000 patients to take precautions against possible identity theft.
But some patients complain the warning came nearly two months after the information could have been compromised, and they're not getting help the county promised.
"I had some negative credit reporting on my credit report," Marvin Brown said. He recently got a letter from a company in a small Idaho town saying he owes them money. "I've never been to Idaho," he said.
It could be misinformation from some other source, but he's worried -- after he got the warning letter from Sagebrush that his patient information could have been among papers in a storage unit that was broken into.
The letters to patients are dated Sept. 2.
"One or more unknown individuals broke into a locked storage area that contained confidential patient information," reads the letter from Kern Medical Center. Sagebrush is part of KMC, and chief financial officer Fred Plane said they have no idea why anyone would take the paperwork.
KMC officials notified the California Department of Health Care Services about the incident. Plane said the state sent out an investigator who looked over what happened, and what security measures the clinic has taken. He said the state will issue a report, but it's not clear when that will happen. KMC could then face reprimands or fines.
Plane said all patient information has now been moved to a location inside the clinic building. It's located on Columbus Street in northeast Bakersfield.
Plane said the records had been stored in a large, locked metal trailer behind the clinic. He said the papers were patient billing information, not medical records. But, "several boxes" were found overturned The storage unit was in a fenced and gated area. "It had several layers of security," Plane said.
Full story