Stolen laptop computers can be especially troublesome for health care providers that use them to store personally identifiable information about their patients and clients.
Laptop Computer Theft
Recently Triumph LLC, based in Raleigh, North Carolina reported that a laptop that contained spreadsheets with the names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, insurance and Medicaid numbers, billing codes and authorization status for 2,070 clients was stolen. According to the source, it didn’t include Social Security numbers, diagnostic codes or specific financial information about these clients. Triumph provides Outpatient Therapy, Intensive Community Based Services, Case Management, Psychological and Psychiatric care in several counties within North Carolina.
It’s believed that the laptop computer was stolen in December when three men entered their office. Two men distracted the receptionist while the third man stole the computer. They also suspect that the men stole the computer to try and pawn it and not in order to access the private information stored on it. Officials delayed reporting the breach in the hopes that the laptop computer might turn up or be recovered.
The theft is currently under investigation by police and individuals that were affected by the breach have been notified.
If you’re a healthcare provider that uses laptop computers to store or access personally identifiable information about patients, clients, payment information or history, laptop security can give you the upper hand in the case of loss or theft.
Laptop security services by MostHost allow you to remotely lock down your laptop computer and bar unauthorized personnel from using it and making it difficult to re-sell in a secondary market. Further, this affordable, easy to install SaaS solution helps protect your business reputation and prevent costly fines that are associated with HIPAA related violations and can even be used to recover your laptop computer using GPS and IP tracking.
Click here to learn more about Mobile Security for your laptop computer!
Great job on this post. Thanks for taking the time to share Darren! We all tend to get a bit careless about security. And then it becomes a nightmare. Jack