All-Star Orthopedics Amends Notification to Patients Affected by Data Security Incident

All-Star Orthopedics

January 12, 2019
Amended: December 4, 2019

All-Star Orthopedics Amends Notification to Patients Affected by Data Security Incident

We are providing this notice to you as part of our commitment to patient privacy. We take patient privacy very seriously, and it is important to us that you are made fully aware of a potential privacy issue. We have learned that the personal health information of some of our patients may have been compromised.

On November 20, 2018, we learned that a hard-drive containing diagnostic images had been stolen. Immediately upon learning of the theft, we initiated an internal review and notified local law enforcement. After the review, it was confirmed that the stolen hard drive contained x-ray and other diagnostic images with names and dates of birth for some of our patients who had imaging procedures performed at our facility.

The images on the hard drive were not encrypted. However, the file types contained on the hard drive are not readily accessible by common computers and would require special software and programs to open. If the image files were to be opened, the file would contain patient names and dates of birth. No additional patient identifiers, demographics or financial information was stored on the hard drive.

Because we were unable to determine which patients were affected by this incident, we originally provided notification letters to all patients of All-Star Orthopedics on January 12, 2019. We have no indication that the information on the hard drive has been accessed or misused in any way. However, as a precaution, we are providing our patients this amended notification with additional steps our patients may take to help protect themselves. Please review the Recommended Steps document below for additional steps you may take to protect yourself.

We regret that this incident occurred and want to assure you that we have revised our procedures and practices to minimize the risk of recurrence and also implemented additional safeguards to strengthen the physical security of our patients’ sensitive data.

For additional information regarding this incident, please contact us at notification@allstarortho.com.

Sincerely,

Thomas Schott, President

Recommended Steps to help Protect your Information

1. Review your credit reports. We recommend that you remain vigilant by reviewing account statements and monitoring credit reports. Under federal law, you also are entitled every 12 months to one free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting companies. To obtain a free annual credit report, go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228. You may wish to stagger your requests so that you receive a free report by one of the three credit bureaus every four months.
   You should also know that you have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity fraud. Please note that in order to file a crime report or incident report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some kind of proof that you have been a victim. A police report is often required to dispute fraudulent items. You can report suspected incidents of identity theft to local law enforcement or to the Attorney General.
2. Place Fraud Alerts with the three credit bureaus. You can place a fraud alert at one of the three major credit bureaus by phone and also via Experian’s or Equifax’s website. A fraud alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures, including contacting you, before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts. For that reason, placing a fraud alert can protect you, but also may delay you when you seek to obtain credit. The contact information for all three bureaus is as follows:
   

   Credit Bureaus
   Equifax Fraud Reporting 1-866-349-5191 P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348-5069 www.alerts.equifax.com	Experian Fraud Reporting 1-888-397-3742 P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 www.experian.com	TransUnion Fraud Reporting 1-800-680-7289 P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022-2000 www.transunion.com

   It is necessary to contact only ONE of these bureaus and use only ONE of these methods. As soon as one of the three bureaus confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place alerts on their records as well. You will receive confirmation letters in the mail and will then be able to order all three credit reports, free of charge, for your review. An initial fraud alert will last for one year.

   Please Note: No one is allowed to place a fraud alert on your credit report except you.

3. Security Freeze. By placing a security freeze, someone who fraudulently acquires your personal identifying information will not be able to use that information to open new accounts or borrow money in your name. You will need to contact the three national credit reporting bureaus listed above to place the freeze. Keep in mind that when you place the freeze, you will not be able to borrow money, obtain instant credit, or get a new credit card until you temporarily lift or permanently remove the freeze. There is no cost to freeze or unfreeze your credit files.
4. You can obtain additional information about the steps you can take to avoid identity theft from the following agencies. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them, at https://www.identitytheft.gov/.

   California Residents: Visit the California Office of Privacy Protection (http://www.ca.gov) for additional information on protection against identity theft.Kentucky Residents: Office of the Attorney General of Kentucky, 700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 118 Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, www.ag.ky.gov, Telephone: 1-502-696-5300.

   Maryland Residents: Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Consumer Protection Division 200 St. Paul Place Baltimore, MD 21202, www.oag.state.md.us/Consumer, Telephone: 1-888-743-0023.

   New Mexico Residents: You have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in your credit file has been used against you, the right to know what is in your credit file, the right to ask for your credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information.  Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to your file is limited; you must give your consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; you may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report; and you may seek damages from a violator. You may have additional rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act not summarized here. Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have specific additional rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  You can review your rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf, or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

   North Carolina Residents: Office of the Attorney General of North Carolina, 9001 Mail Service Center,
   Raleigh, NC 27699-9001, www.ncdoj.gov, Telephone: 1-919-716-6400.

   Oregon Residents: Oregon Department of Justice, 1162 Court Street NE, Salem, OR 97301-4096, www.doj.state.or.us/, Telephone: 877-877-9392.

   Rhode Island Residents: Office of the Attorney General, 150 South Main Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, www.riag.ri.gov, Telephone: 401-274-4400.

   All US Residents: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580, www.consumer.gov/idtheft, 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338), TTY: 1-866-653-4261.