Crescent Healthcare Notifies Individuals of 2012 Data Breach
Last week, Crescent Healthcare -- an Anaheim-based Walgreens company -- began notifying patients and employees of a data breach that occurred late last year, Healthcare IT News reports.
Details of the Incident
On Dec. 28, 2012, an unknown person or persons broke into Crescentâs billing center and stole computer hardware and paper records, according to a letter notifying patients and employees of the breach.
The stolen property could have contained patients':
- Names;
- Phone numbers;
- Dates of birth;
- Addresses;
- Social Security numbers;
- Health insurance data; and
- Diagnosis information.
Comments From Crescent
Crescent did not provide information on how many individuals were affected by the breach.
Paul Mastrapa, president of Crescent, wrote in the letter, âWe are very sorry this happened, and we are cooperating with law enforcement to further investigate this incident.â
He added, "Additionally, we have taken steps to [prevent] this from happening again, including retraining employees and service providers on security, and inhaling our security policies and procedures" (McCann, Healthcare IT News, 2/25). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.