Data breach reports now posted online

Since the Health and Human Services Dept. started posting a list of health care breaches, there have been 64 incidents reported, affecting more than 1 million people. 

When a breach affects more than 500 patients, practices and other health care entities -- or their business associates -- are required to notify the HHS Office for Civil Rights and the media. HHS is required to post a list of the breaches online.

HHS started listing the breaches on its website in February, then updated the list in April. The reported incidents affected 1,243,815 individuals.

Of the 64 breaches:

    * Seven involved laptops.
    * Twelve involved paper records.
    * Eleven involved desktop computers.
    * Eight involved either hard drives or network servers.
    * Seven involved portable electronic devices.

The remaining incidents either were isolated events that didn't fit into another category or were classified as "other" in the report. Some single events included more than one category -- a theft that included a laptop and a desktop computer, for example.