Ontario Health Insurance Plan — the Canadian province's government-run health plan — accidentally sent health insurance card renewal notices, including personal health information, to the wrong addresses, The Waterloo Region Record reports.
The breach resulted from a printing error on a double-sided form, creating a "mismatch between the mailing address on the front and the information on the back," according to The Waterloo Region Record. This health information includes patients' names, addresses, dates of birth and health numbers.
All affected patients are children who have dates of birth in July. Health insurance card renewal notices are on hold while OHIP and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario investigate the issue. The province prints roughly 165,000 renewal notices each month.
Last week, province officials told The Waterloo Region Record as many as 5,600 children were affected by the breach. However, it has since said the exact number of patients has not been determined, since not all renewal notices were incorrect.
The province told The Waterloo Region Record it plans to send apology letters to affected patients and will ask those who received an incorrect renewal notice to return the form with a prepaid envelope included in the apology letter. The province is also setting up a dedicated hotline to address patient concerns.
OHIP has not issued a public notice about the privacy incident. The Waterloo Region Record learned about the breach after two concerned parents contacted the Ontario-based newspaper.
Editor's note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to Ontario Health Insurance Plan for comment and will update as more information is available.