New VA Personal Data Compromises

Another Department of Veterans Affairs computer is missing — this one a desktop containing the personal information of as many as 38,000 patients at VA hospitals in Pennsylvania, the department said August 7. The computer disappeared from the Reston office of Unisys Corp., a subcontractor that assists in insurance collections for VA medical centers in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Early indications are that the missing records involve veterans treated in the past four years at the two Pennsylvania medical centers, including 5,000 patients in Philadelphia and 11,000 in Pittsburgh, as well as 2,000 other patients who have died, said the VA. The department also is investigating whether the computer contained information on 20,000 other veterans treated in Pittsburgh. The computer is believed to have contained unencrypted patients’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates, insurance information, dates of military service and claims data that may include medical information, the department said.