x
Breaking News
More () »

Some patients impacted by personal health info breach at Palmer Chiropractic

A letter to patients says an employee had posted a picture to social media without seeing a computer screen with protected health information in the background.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — A letter sent to some patients of Palmer Chiropractic Clinics says some protected health information may have been breached when an employee posted a picture to social media without realizing that information had been in the background of the picture.

The letter, dated for Dec. 6, says the clinic has already taken steps to make sure patients' info is protected. 

The incident happened on Oct. 14 and was discovered within an hour of the employee posting the photo. The photo, which had information displayed on a computer monitor in the background, was removed at that time.

The information disclosed included patient names, birth dates, patient numbers and names of insurance providers. The clinic then "took exhaustive efforts" to find any other information and delete it from any unauthorized devices. 

The clinic has placed additional security measures, reviewed current training for revisions and addressed the actions of individuals involved through the clinic's established policies and processes to address misconduct.

News 8 reached out to the clinic for further comment, here is the response: 

"Palmer Chiropractic Clinics takes protected health information seriously and immediately notifies any individual whose information may have been compromised. This instance impacted a small number of individuals and we immediately followed HIPAA protocols in notifying these individuals as well as putting steps in place to prevent reoccurrence and mitigating any further impact on any additional individuals."

Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8's YouTube channel

Before You Leave, Check This Out