"Data Breach at Arkansas Department of Human Services Releases Medicaid Information"

Officials with the Arkansas Department of Human Services have recently discovered a data breach that released client data.  The officials said the breach came on Sept. 16 when an employee sent emails from her DHS email account to her personal Yahoo email account.  The emails had attachments of spreadsheets that listed 925 DHS Medicaid clients who had been diagnosed with the flu.  The officials noted that listed in the attachments were the person's Medicaid ID, date of birth, gender, county, zip code, and diagnosis.  Names, Social Security numbers, full addresses, and financial information were not disclosed in the breach.  Department officials said they had notified the affected clients by mail about the breach.  It was noted that the staff is trained on security, including patient privacy.  Part of the training employees receive includes using secure and encrypted email and not using personal email for client health information.  Officials said the department is taking steps to prevent a data breach like this from taking place in the future.

MSN reports: "Data Breach at Arkansas Department of Human Services Releases Medicaid Information"