Theft turns into breach for med group

Summarize this content to a maximum of 60 words:
A St. Louis suburb-based orthodontist office is notifying 10,000 patients that their protected health information and Social Security numbers have been compromised following the recent burglary of company computers and hardware. 

Olson & White Orthodontics reported the burglary July 22. The computers contained patients’ names, addresses, X-rays, clinical diagnoses, email addresses, Social Security numbers and credit scores, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Patient notification letters were mailed Aug. 28. 

The practice failed to provide specific information concerning what they’re doing to prevent this from happening again. “While we can’t go into exact detail on additional measures we are taking because doing so might compromise those measures, we have re-evaluated and further strengthened our physical, technical and administrative security,” read a notice from Olson & White. “We have increased physical security, for example, by further strengthening security at the office access points, and physically securing our computers.”

When asked for specific information pertaining to preventative action and details surrounding the burglary, Olson & White Orthodontics did not respond to Healthcare IT News by publication time. 

According to data from the Department of Health and Human Services, theft accounts for the lion’s share (52 percent) of HIPAA data breaches, with unauthorized disclosure next at 20 percent.