Patients Notified of Potential Data Breach After Laptop Stolen at Texas Physician's Office

A Texas physician's office has notified patients that a laptop containing their personal health information was stolen on Jan. 5, 2014.

The laptop and at least one hard drive were stolen from the office of J.M. Benson, MD, based in Sherman, Texas, according to a Herald Democrat report. The laptop contained the patients' names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers and health insurance provider policy numbers. 

It might be possible for the persons who stole the laptop to use the patients' personal information for committing health insurance fraud, according to the report. Patients are encouraged to monitor their credit reports to ensure they are not adversely affected by this potential data breach.

The theft has been reported to local law enforcement, and the investigation is ongoing.

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