Baylor Health Care System Data Breach

In September, a laptop computer was stolen from the car of a Baylor Health Care System’s employee. This laptop contained health information on some 100,000 patients, all of whom were notified by mail of the missing data. Law enforcement officials notified the hospital that it is rare that identity theft results from data loss such as this. We think it depends totally on the motive of for the theft. Was it to obtain a laptop or was it to obtain the information on the laptop.

Baylor Health Care System is offering a $1,000 reward for the missing laptop. The manager who was in possession of the laptop at the time it was stolen was fired for breaking protocol.

Baylor is offering free credit-monitoring services for those patients who may have been affected. This is the second medical data breach that has occurred in North Texas, with the last one occurring one year before. The breach, which occurred at Texas Health Resources Inc, involved credit card information of about 8,000 patients.