Minn. dental practice warns patients of security breach

A Minnesota dental practice is warning its patients that two laptop computers containing patients' protected health information were recently stolen.

The laptops were stolen on March 19 from Associated Dentists' Roseville practice. While the practice and police are unaware of attempted or actual misuse of patients' protected health information, affected patients have been notified. The practice is providing one free year of identity monitoring and identity restoration services to affected patients.

Neither of the laptops has been recovered, according to the practice. One was encrypted, but the other was only password-protected.

The protected health information includes the following:

• Patients' names
• Social Security numbers
• Dates of birth
• Addresses

For some patients, treating physician's name, diagnosis information, medical billing/procedure information, responsible party name, insurance carrier name, insurance policy number, and email address may have been accessed.

Associated Dentists encourages individuals to review account statements and monitor credit reports and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity. The practice has also established a confidential inquiry line at 877-690-7014.