Administrative Investigation Loss of VA Information VA Medical Center Birmingham, AL

A Veterans Health Administration Information Technology Specialist with the Research Enhancement Award Program, VA Medical Center, Birmingham, AL, reported that a VA-owned external hard drive, which was used to back up data related to VA research projects, was missing. The hard drive was believed to contain numerous research-related files containing personally identifiable information and/or individually identifiable health information for over 250,000 veterans, and information obtained from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, on over 1.3 million medical providers. Improper disclosure of the information violates the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, and could be used to compromise the identity of veterans and physicians and possibly used to commit Medicare billing fraud.