Over the past four years, Richard Beason, a certified public accountant with no relation to the medical industry, has reportedly received at least 100 faxes — most containing protected health information — originally intended for hospitals, physicians and pharmacists, reports The Roanoke Times.
The number for the fax machine in his Roanoke, Va.-based office picks up faxes seemingly meant for healthcare providers. Many of the faxes are sent from offices attempting to reach the Carilion Clinic, a Roanoke, Va.-based health system. Mr. Beason said he has tried to contact the various senders, but the problem has yet to be solved.
Recent faxes seem targeted toward a Carilion practice in Daleville, Va., which Mr. Beason said shares a similar fax number to his office. As part of its ongoing investigation, officials at Carilion said the organization reviewed its internal databases and hired a contractor to sweep its external websites which did not reveal any mistaken listing of Mr. Beason's fax number.
It its investigation into the incident, an official at Carilion said it has not yet seen the faxes Mr. Beason recieved, so he could not confirm the severity or magnitude of the breach at this time, Becker's confirmed.
"Any number of scenarios could have resulted in Mr. Beason receiving misdirected faxes, and it's premature to speculate on why without having all the facts," a spokesman told The Roanoke Times.
The cover sheets Carilion uses when sending its faxes contain a confidentiality notice, as well as a request that people who receive erroneous faxes contact the sender.
Becker's has reached out to Carilion Clinic for comment. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story has been updated to include information from Carilion Clinic.
Editor's note: This article was updated on August 1 to clarify that non-Carilion Clinics were erranously sending faxes to Mr. Beason.
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