Thieves broke into a “custom built, double-locked storage facility” in Jersey City, N.J., which housed paper patient records.
The storage unit contained records of patients who had not been seen in the office for three consecutive years — between 1982 and 2009 — and were considered inactive, according to the hospital’s notice.
Records of active patients seen between 2010 and 2013 are stored at a different facility, but the notice indicates it is possible a “small number” of active patients may be affected by the theft.
Potentially compromised information may include patient names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, birth dates, gender, insurance information, billing information, medical diagnoses, treatment records, lab and test results and pharmacy/medication records.
As of now, the hospital indicates it is unaware that any unauthorized individual has used the information.
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