Heyman HospiceCare laptop with some patient information remains missing

 

 

Media release: Heyman HospiceCare at Floyd announces that on January 4, 2013, Heyman HospiceCare became aware that a password-protected laptop went missing from an employee's car earlier that same day. The incident was reported to the police, and Heyman HospiceCare immediately began a thorough investigation to identify the information that was contained on the laptop. To date, the laptop has not been located. Although information on the laptop was not encrypted, it was protected by additional security software that would make it difficult for the average person to access any information. 

 

Heyman HospiceCare's investigation concluded that the laptop may have contained clinical and demographic information about patients, including patient names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, insurance policy numbers, diagnoses, visit notes, physician names, caregiver names, and advance directives.  Patient financial information was not on the laptop, and medical information has not been lost.  The incident affected only certain patients treated between July 1, 2006, and January 3, 2013. 

 

Heyman HospiceCare has no reason to believe that the laptop was taken for the information it contained, or that the information has been accessed or used improperly. In an abundance of caution, Heyman HospiceCare began mailing letters to affected individuals on February 15, 2013.  Heyman HospiceCare is also providing a dedicated call center to answer questions for affected patients.  Heyman HospiceCare is also offering eligible individuals a free one-year membership in a three-bureau credit monitoring service. More information can be found at Floyd's website at http://www.floyd.org. 

 

Heyman HospiceCare deeply regrets any inconvenience or concern this may cause patients.  Heyman HospiceCare is committed to safeguarding patients' personal information. To help prevent something like this from happening in the future, Heyman HospiceCare is implementing a more disciplined approach to its encryption for all laptop computers and re-educating workforce members on policies and procedures for securing such mobile devices.