LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Medical information about 729,000 patients has been compromised by the theft of two laptops belonging to a California hospital group, company officials say.
The laptops, owned by AHMC based in the San Gabriel Valley, contained health and personal information about patients treated at six hospitals in the region, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
Officials said the computers were taken Oct. 12 from a sixth-floor office of a "gated and patrolled" medical campus. The theft was discovered Oct. 14 and the date of the theft was determined by examination of video footage, AHMC spokesman Gary Hopkins said.
The hospital group said the computers contained data including patients' Medicare or insurance identification numbers, diagnosis codes and, in some cases, Social Security numbers.
AHMC said in a statement there was no evidence the information had been accessed or used.
Hospital officials advised patients to put fraud alerts on their credit cards and check credit reports for fraudulent activity.
