A Portland, Oregon man has been receiving erroneous faxes containing protected health information (PHI) from Community Memorial Hospital patients through an apparent error with United Healthcare, an insurance company, according to a report from 620WTMJ.com.
The initial fax, which included patient names, dates of birth, patient ID numbers, admission dates, and discharge dates, was sent to Stephen Butler’s home about a year ago. After tracing the number to Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Butler called the hospital to inform them of the error.
Froedtert Health, which runs Community Memorial Hospital, was alerted of the breach through a patient of the hospital who had been contacted by Butler. After an investigation, the breach was determined to be caused by United Healthcare.
While United has not yet been able to determine if the breach was a result of human error or a glitch in their system, a representative issued 602WTMJ a statement saying, “We were alerted by Froedtert Health about this issue earlier today, and we are working closely with them to investigate and determine the facts. We take very seriously the privacy and personal information of our members.”
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