Business & Tech

Patient Privacy Lawsuit Filed Against Advocate

The lawsuit has been filed after four computers were stolen from Advocate, according to the Daily Herald.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Cook County against Advocate Medical Group after four computers containing the personal information of nearly 4.03 million patients throughout Illinois were stolen, according to the Daily Herald. 

The computers contained information such as the names, birth dates, social security numbers and some clinical information—but not medical information—about patients and the lawsuit claims Advocate did not do enough to protect its patient's privacy, according to the article. 

Advocate Medical Group has 250 sites, including 10 acute-care hospitals, according to Advocate's website.

Locally, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Lake View has more than 1,000 physicians in an array of specialties.

In a typical year, the work with a nursing staff care to care for more than 20,000 inpatients, 149,000 outpatients and 35,000 emergency patients, according to Advocate's website. They also handle 142,000 patient visits to primary care and specialty centers.


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