Stolen hard drives result in breach at Chesapeake Regional

Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, a two-hospital delivery system serving the Outer Banks region of Virginia, discovered in February that two portable hard drives were missing from the organization’s Sleep Center.

Now, approximately 2,100 patients are being notified and offered one year of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services from LifeLock should their electronic health records be used inappropriately. LifeLock also will request that the three major credit bureaus place fraud alerts on affected patients’ credit reports.

The breach affects only sleep center patients receiving services between April 2015 and February 2018.



Also See: Lost hard drive at Massachusetts group practice results in breach

Compromised data at Chesapeake Regional includes patient names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, demographic information, prescribed medications and procedures performed.

Social Security numbers, billing information and addresses were not affected in the breach.

In an announcement, Chesapeake Regional says it is making improvements to further safeguard portable hard drives and is enhancing corporate policies and procedures, according to the organization.