Michigan Medicine Inadvertently Exposes Private Health Info For 1K People: What To Know

ANN ARBOR, MI — Michigan Medicine said Thursday staff may have inadvertently exposed private health information for more than 1,000 people.

Officials said staff mailed postcards without envelopes to about 1,015 people to recruit them for a research study. The body of the postcard included protected health information that was potentially exposed to anyone who may have come in contact with the postcard.

As soon as Michigan Medicine was made aware of the error, officials told the research study recruiters to stop sending out postcards.

Investigators then determined that the University of Michigan’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), a panel of staff that is responsible for human subjects research oversight, mistakenly approved the use of this postcard.

Officials said the IRB is working to ensure a similar incident will not happen again, including staff-wide additional education about protecting PHI in communication materials.

"We take patient privacy very seriously, and we regret this incident. Whenever situations like this occur, we immediately take steps to investigate," said Jeanne Strickland, Michigan Medicine Chief Compliance Officer. "We will analyze this incident and review our safeguards and make changes if needed to protect those we care for."

Michigan Medicine said staff began mailing notices to those affected patients (or their personal representatives) on Thursday.

Those concerned about the breach and did not receive a letter may call the toll-free Michigan Medicine Assistance Line: 1-833-353-4105. Calls will be answered Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Officials said they believe the risk of identity theft related to the incident is low, but urged those affected to watch their medical insurance transactions for fraud.