By Healthcare Facilities Today

Advocate Health Care has been sued after experiencing a huge HIPAA data breach in August that compromising the protected health information and Social Security numbers of more than 4 million people, according to an article on Healthcare IT News. 

The law suit states that Advocate Health Care failed to take the necessary precautions required to safeguard patients' protected health information. The unencrypted laptops were stolen from an "unmonitored" room, one with "little or no security to prevent unauthorized access." 

Patients' PHI, Social Security numbers and protected insurance information "was improperly handled and stored, was unencrypted, and not kept in accordance with applicable and appropriate cyber-security protocols, policies and procedures," according to the suit.

The suit also claims that Advocate Health violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to safeguard and protect patient information.  

Read the article.