OptumHealth based in New Mexico recently announced data breach. The incident was outcome of missing unencrypted flash drive. Approximately 2,000 individuals were affected. 
The device contained information for some individuals who were enrolled in an OptumHealth plan. Affected information includes individuals’ name and a full or partial date of birth, telephone number, health identification number, address, provider name, diagnosis, or other health information. Financial information was not affected. Some individuals’ full or partial Social Security numbers were present on the flash drive.
“Upon discovery, we took prompt action to investigate the matter,” OptumHealth said in its statement. “The U.S. Postal Service was immediately notified to assist in locating the flash drive, and we are working closely with them as they further investigate the matter. We have implemented new measures to help prevent this from occurring in the future, including updating our processes related to vendors in efforts to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents.”
OptumHealth sent the notification letter to potentially affected individuals. Facility mentioned that there are few individuals who cannot be notified via mail.
While OptumHealth mentioned that “the information potentially accessed was limited,” it still encouraged individuals to enroll in the free services. As per the OCR data breach reporting tool, incident affected 2,006 individuals. It has also offered one year of complimentary identity theft protection services.
As per the statement,
We also encourage individuals to be vigilant against incidents of identity theft. As a precaution to protect against misuse of your information, we recommend that individuals regularly monitor documentation concerning health care, bank and credit card statements, and tax returns to check for any unfamiliar activity. If you notice any suspicious activity on health statements, bank or credit card statement, or tax returns, please immediately contact the financial institution, credit card company, health plan, or other relevant institution.
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