Another Major Medical Data Breach In California

Or....why are health care institutions still leaving laptops containing PHI unencrypted????

The Los Angeles Times (the "Times") reported this week the theft of two laptops from an administrative office of hospital group AHMC Healthcare Inc. ("AHMC") in Alhambra, California that compromised the health data of approximately 729,000 individuals. The notice posted by AHMC on the web sites of each of the six hospitals affected by the incident indicated that the laptops were stolen on Saturday, October 12 from a video-monitored, gated, and security-patrolled AHMC office and the theft was reported to the local police as soon as it was discovered on the security camera footage on Monday, October 14. A local television station indicated in a report of the incident that the Alhambra police identified a suspect in the security video footage and are pursuing the individual who may have had ties with someone working in the AHMC building and knew where the laptops were located.