Free Credit Monitoring Given To Victims Of Healthcare Security Breaches

Two healthcare providers are offering their customers free credit monitoring after a data breach compromised their personal information. This service can help them spot and take action against fraudulent activity on their accounts.

Last fall, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee reported that 57 laptops were stolen. This compromised thousands of phone calls and about 300,000 screenshots of personal information viewed during the calls, according to a report in BusinessWeek.

Most of the information pertained to BlueCross BlueShield identification numbers, names and date of birth.

The company identified more than a half million customers affected by the breach. It has spent about $7 million trying to resolve the issue, including sending hundreds of thousands of letters and putting in more than 110,000 work-hours to review compromised material.

“We are determined to prevent any future thefts and potential dangers to our members, as well as the substantial financial damages which this theft has caused BlueCross,” the company said in a letter to its customers.

In a separate incident, a laptop was stolen from the company’s gastroenterology clinical services unit at the University of Florida. It contained information regarding patients’ Social Security numbers, names, addresses, medical records and medical procedure codes.

This information had been downloaded onto the computer by a Shands employee who believed the computer was encrypted. The employee has since been disciplined and reeducated on security policies at the company, according to the report.

Shands spokesperson Kim Rose said the incident reemphasized the importance of protecting information.

“We always work to educate employees on our privacy policies,” she told the newspaper. “This has given us another reminder.”

Identity theft is among the nation’s fastest growing crimes and affected more than 11 million Americans last year, according to a report by Javelin Strategy & Research. Credit monitoring is one way consumers can protect themselves against fraudulent activity. They may also want to take measures to protect documents pertaining to medical and credit information.