Daniel Drake Center for Post-Acute Care Data Breach (2015)

The Daniel Drake Center for Post-Acute Care, a hospital affiliated with UC Health, has begun notifying thousands of patients that some of their medical records might have been compromised Drake hospital began mailing letters to 4,721 affected patients on Aug. 1 and has established a call center to address questions. Each of the patients is being offered one year of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services through Experian. UC Health’s privacy office was notified June 2 that a Drake hospital employee had accessed medical records without authorization between that day and July 29, 2015. Information that might have been viewed included the patients’ names, addresses, dates of birth, medical record numbers, diagnosis/condition, lab results, treatment and medication information, according to UC Health. The patients’ full Social Security numbers were not included with the information. The employee was fired after the unauthorized access was confirmed, according to UC Health. Drake hospital has added safeguards to prevent such incidents, including regularly and proactively monitoring access to electronic medical records. The hospital is also beefing up training of staff regarding appropriate access to such records and patient confidentiality. The hospital, which is in Hartwell, regrets any inconvenience or concern the incident may have caused patients, UC Health said.