Belgrade (Maine) Regional Health Center has reported a potential data breach after letters sent to patients contained protected health information of another patient, reports centralmaine.com.
The health center, which is part of Waterville, Maine-based HealthReach Community Health Centers Network, mailed letters to patients Oct. 21 about a physician assistant who is leaving the practice, and the letter included the name and address of another patient.
"This inadvertent inclusion indicated the patient other than the intended letter recipient had a treatment relationship with the departing physician assistant and the health center," stated a hospital release.
Only the second patient's name was included in the letter; no other identifying information or financial information was compromised, according to the report.
The health center launched an investigation and found the mistake occurred due to a technical error in the mail merge process on the vendor's end, according to the report.
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