SEBRING —
Agents are still investigating the possible thefts of the identities of 1,170 patients of Heartland Pathology, spokeswoman Paula Reed said Thursday from the Secret Service’s Miami office.
According to an Aug. 31 press release from attorney Kelly Sullivan of Dean Mead law firm in Orlando, “Agents from the Secret Service and FBI informed Heartland Pathology Associates that during 2009, an employee of a medical billing company that previously performed services on behalf of Heartland Pathology downloaded patient information without permission to a thumb drive, and subsequently transferred the patient information to a third party, who may have used the information for illegal purposes, including identity theft.”
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
Sullivan and Florida Hospital Heartland President Tim Cook didn’t know if anyone has been arrested, nor would the Secret Service or the FBI comment.
“We are not aware of the status of any criminal investigation of the employee or others involved,” said Ned Campbell, compliance officer with Medical Business Service.
“I’ve heard that somebody was arrested and incarcerated, although I don’t have that from first-hand knowledge,” Sullivan said. In fact, information has been relayed to her, through the hospital, that several individuals were arrested.
The Secret Service’s Reed would not confirm the arrests. The U.S. attorney’s office did not respond to voice mail messages by press time on Thursday.
“I don’t believe we were involved in this,” FBI Public Affairs Specialist Jim Marshall emailed. “Contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office, South District of Florida, to see if they are handling this matter.”
Although Sullivan said the Secret Service and the FBI are involved, she said the law firm had no direct communication with either agency, which has been tight lipped even to the victims. Reed said if there are victims other than the 1,170, “We will notify them.”
Cook said both Secret Service and FBI agents called in June, and that the FBI told him the theft had nothing to do with Florida Hospital data security.
The agents were investigating where the stolen information came from and how it got into the hands of the thieves, Sullivan said. The stolen information included patient names, Social Security numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, insurance, procedures, diagnoses and other demographic information.
Sullivan said Heartland Pathology learned of the ID thefts after Florida Hospital Heartland was informed that agents were investigating an identify theft ring in Florida.
Sullivan said Heartland Pathology found out about the alleged crime through the efforts of the hospital. “It wasn’t until later in the process that they (the FBI and Secret Service) eventually gave some limited information to the hospital. It wasn’t their (the hospital’s) breach; it was the breach to the pathologist.”
“None of us were completely satisfied that we understood all the facts,” Sullivan said. Heartland Pathology pieced together the facts and realized how many patients were involved, and that Heartland Pathology had to focus on those patients.
Sullivan said Heartland Pathology has reviewed its security procedures. “Unfortunately, this crime occurred although security measures were in place.”
Sullivan said Heartland Pathology has since reviewed its security procedures. “Unfortunately, this crime occurred although security measures were in place.”
The billing company, Medical Business Services of Coral Gables, no longer provides medical billing services for Heartland Pathology. Medical Business Services had taken security precautions, Sullivan said. “They had no reason to suspect (the employee) would turn into a criminal.”
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requires health care providers to protect not only a patient’s health care information, but demographic information as well, Sullivan said. Both the hospital and Dina H. Rada, the president of Heartland Pathology, which contracts with the hospital for pathology services at 4200 Sun ‘n Lake Blvd., the same address as Florida Hospital, did what they were supposed to do to protect the information.
“Which is why we retained a company,” Sullivan said, although there was no legal requirement to do so. “We thought it was the right thing to do.”
Heartland Pathology is providing identity monitoring services, identity restoration and identity theft insurance for affected patients. Affected patients may obtain copies of their credit reports and identity theft prevention information from consumer credit reporting agencies.
Other security companies would simply have notified the patients and instructed them what to do. Identity Force was selected, not because it was the lowest bidder, but because it viewed the job more proactively and took on the burden of the patient, Sullivan said.
“The pathologist had a lot of sleepless nights,” Sullivan said. “She was very disappointed and upset about the patients.”
More info: Identity Force, 877-694-3367, memberservices@identityforce.com, and www.identityforce.com/Consumer
