HOUSTON — The private health information of 2,298 hospital patients is at risk of being shared after multiple files were lost during transfer between Gulfgate Health Center and Ben Taub Hospital, according to Harris Health System officials.
The potential privacy breach happened Dec. 30, 2019 and may impact patients serviced at Gulfgate Health Center between Dec. 9 - 27, 2019, officials said in an announcement Friday.
Two envelopes containing 143 pages of protected health information were lost while being taken to Ben Taub Hospital for scanning and archiving in Harris Health’s electronic medical record.
Harris Health believes the information may have included social security numbers, full names, dates of birth, addresses, telephone numbers, diagnoses, tests results, insurance information, medication information, and provider information.
At this time, there is no proof that anyone has improperly used or disclosed the information involved. However, Harris Health is notifying the patients and recommending they take the appropriate steps to monitor and safeguard their personal identity.
“We believe the breach includes information for about 25 patients; however, we are not able to determine the specific patients affected,” Harris Health System Chief Compliance and Risk Officer Carolynn R. Jones said.
“Out of an abundance of caution and to best protect patient privacy, we are notifying a much larger patient group who were seen in the three weeks immediately prior to the loss.”
Harris Health System provided the following information to help those who may have been impacted:
- Monitoring activity on existing personal/financial accounts.
- Requesting copies of credit reports from one or more of the three national credit reporting agencies. Affected individuals may obtain one free credit report from each of the three reporting agencies at one time so that a comparison may be made, or requests can be spread out over 12 months so that an affected individual can have an updated report every three to four months. Individuals may only receive one free copy of a personal credit report from each of the three reporting agencies in a twelve month period. Individuals should review the information to identify any accounts that may have been established without their knowledge.
Contact Information for Credit Reporting Agencies (to request a copy of your credit report):
Experian – (888) 397-3742 or www.experian.com
Transunion – (800) 888-4213 or www.transunion.com
Equifax – (877) 322-8229 or www.equifax.com
3. If you identify any activity that occurred without your knowledge, contact the company or the companies involved. Those companies may require you to provide them with copies of a Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) Identity Theft Affidavit.
READ MORE STORIES ON KHOU.COM
