Notice to our Mercy Family Medicine Patients seen between August 1, 2012 and October 3, 2012 Regarding Breach Incident

August 11, 2017

Centura Health - Mercy Family Medicine takes our role of safeguarding patients’ information very seriously. This notice is to inform our patients of a recent incident that may have involved patient information and the actions we took.

On April 7, 2017 Durango Family Medicine, P.C. discovered a portable external hard drive containing historical information from their medical records system had gone missing. On June 21, 2017 we became aware that the hard drive also contained some information related to patient visits when providers from Durango Family Medicine, P.C. were transitioning to employment at Mercy Family Medicine. We confirmed the hard drive files specific to the Mercy Family Medicine visits were for a limited time frame and may have included patient demographic information (e.g., name, address, date of birth, telephone number, insurance carrier) and/or clinical information (e.g., patient ID number, date of service, diagnosis, progress notes, medical problem list, vital signs, allergies, medications, lab and/or diagnostic study results, social history, consultation notes, hospital notes and reports).  Social security number and financial information were not included.

There is no evidence that the information on the external hard drive was ever viewed or used in any way. However, as a precaution, Centura Health mailed letters to potentially affected patients on August 8, 2017. This incident did not affect all Centura Health- Mercy Family Medicine patients. We have established a dedicated telephone number to assist patients with any questions. If you believe you have been affected, but have not received a letter by August 31, 2017 please call 1-877-934-0035.

Centura Health took steps to implement and/or reinforce necessary protective measures to help prevent similar events in the future. Those steps included verifying a police report had been filed, requesting Durango Family Medicine, P.C. return or securely destroy the Mercy Family Medicine portion of visits from their external hard drives, requesting Durango Family Medicine, P.C. no longer store their external hard drives at the Mercy Family Medicine practice location, and improving internal processes related to provider employment transitions to ensure clear separation and retention of medical records. We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause our patients.