Report on Patient Privacy 21, no. 10 (October, 2021)
- A massive data breach at University of New Mexico (UNM) Health may have allowed a third party to obtain medical records from more than 600,000 patients—more than a quarter of the state’s population. UNM Health has been mailing letters to affected patients who had been treated at either UNM Hospital, UNM Medical Group or the UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center, hospital officials said. The breach occurred on May 2 and was discovered on June 4, according to UNM Health’s statement. Patient names, medical record numbers and Social Security numbers were among the information obtained during the data breach, said Michael Richards, senior vice chancellor for clinical affairs at UNM Health System.