Dozens of Medical Records Found in Dumpster

Piles of health documents were tossed in a public dumpster for anyone to get their hands on and the Connecticut Country Branch of health is investigating.

Multiple stacks of health information had been discovered buried in a dumpster in the back of Allied Medical Associates in Waterbury on Tuesday. The documents contain private and sensitive health information.

“I’m afraid that my medical information may be there and that’s not a good thing,” Yasmeen Burgos, of Waterbury, told NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters.

Burgos was treated by Allied Medical Associates’ primary medical doctor Dr. Stephen P. Harris a couple years ago and is concerned her records could be compromised.

Harris informed NBC Connecticut that the clinical office closed down two days after Christmas because the bills were not paid.

“I can’t treat my patients and also stand over people watching what’s going on, so suddenly, I found out we have been deeply in debt due to the fact that a lot of bills hadn’t been paid,” Harris said.

A note on the front door of Allied Medical Associates said the office is permanently closed and for patients to contact their legal attorney.

A state health worker showed up a short time after the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters to analyze the information inside the Waterbury dumpster on Tuesday.

Harris revealed to the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters that his house and car have been packed with patient information saved from his practice; however, he admits the others that were discovered in the dumpster had been approved to go in the garbage.

“There have been containers of files that were categorized or I thought categorized 2010 and there’s only a seven-year duration you need to keep the documents, so we placed them in the dumpster. I’m liable for it; I have talked to the state. We’re going to retrieve those ones and shred them but it was not deliberate- it was a terrible choice, however, it was a decision made because we had so little time to get out,” Harris said.

NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters asked Harris why the files weren’t destroyed the first time.

“I understand they needed to be shredded, however, I felt that you know, once the dumpster people got here and placed them in a dump covered up and chewed them up, there wouldn’t be anybody crawling through there to get those,” Harris said. “We had our own shredder and it takes forever to shred those and we didn’t have time to do it.”
State health officers secured the information on Tuesday afternoon. They said they cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, but they supplied NBC Connecticut an outline of the state’s law regarding medical records.

According to state statute 19a-14-44 Discontinuance of Practice, patients must be informed.

“This must be done by placing a notice in a daily local newspaper published in the community, which is the prime focus of the practice. The notice shall appear twice, seven days apart. In addition, an individual letter is to be sent to each patient seen within the three years preceding the date of discontinuance of the practice. Medical records of all patients must be retained for at least sixty days following both the public and private notice to patients,” the law reads in part.

Read the full article here.

A Breakdown of Our Services

At Mobile Record Shredders, we do not tread lightly on the topic of confidentiality. We have tailored our service offerings to make it easy for you to take part in our document destruction offerings and keep your information confidential. Below is a breakdown of what we can offer you:

One-Time: Bulk Clean-out Shredding Services

On-Going: Regularly Scheduled Shredding Services

Shred Drop Off Locations:

We offer drop off locations in Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Monument, Canon City, Lamar, and La Junta for those that have smaller document destruction needs.

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Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

When it comes down to it, Mobile Record Shredders alleviates the hassle and is the most cost effective solution to your document destruction and confidentiality needs, while providing a green and environmental friendly solution for document destruction.

In the document destruction process, millions of pounds of paper are shredded each year. We have many customers asking us what we do with all of the documents we destroy. The answer is, we recycle. Not only do we recycle the documents destroyed, but it allows our customers to also be green and recycle by using our secure document destruction services. Recycling and being green is a good feature for all.

At Mobile Record Shredders, we are committed to recycling all documents shredded using our secure document destruction service. 100% of our products (including the paper shredded using our services) are shredded, bailed, and most importantly recycled. One bale, otherwise known as 1,000 pounds of shredded paper, when recycled translates to the following green practices:

Due to our recycling efforts, including partnering with Blue Star Recyclers to increase our document destruction recycling efforts, Mobile Record Shredders has created well over $7.5 million in value savings to the environment since 2004. We think that’s pretty impressive when you are referring to document destruction services.

Knowing the impact that paper usage has on the environment, but translating that impact into positive recycling efforts is important to us and we know it’s important to you too. Let us take your document destruction needs and turn them into an environmentally friendly experience.

Learn more  about the benefits of Mobile Record Shredders and how we can help your business with recycling and your document destruction.

Shredding Bins—How They Can Help My Business

Document shredding services help companies keep their private information private. Every business document has an expiration date, and rather than toss private customer, employee, and other sensitive business information in the trash where anyone can access it, paper shredding offers some peace of mind.

While some companies may only need to shred a few sheets of paper a day, other organizations may produce hundreds or thousands of documents a week that require shredding. If this is your situation you should consider regularly scheduled shredding services, where you’ll discover the benefits of shredding bins.

What Are Shredding Bins?

Shredding bins are secured with a lock and have a small slot to put paper into. Your provider will give you bins to place in and around your office, after signing up for routine scheduled shredding services. Bins will protect all your company's private information between visits from your shredding service.

It is up to you how many bins you have throughout your office, this depends on how many documents need to be shredded as your company accumulates them over a period of time.

As time passes you easily compile the documents that need to be shredded into your bins. The shredding service you hired will come on the dates you pre-scheduled with them to pick up the bins, shred the sensitive material, and will replace the newly-emptied bins in your office to start the process over again.

Alternatives to Regularly Scheduled Shredding Services

Shredding bins and routine services are appropriate for businesses that rapidly produce and accrue sensitive information. If your company occasionally produces a considerable amount of documents that need shredding, one-time shredding purges are available as an option.

Shred Your Confidential Files for Peace of Mind

Mobile Record Shredders is committed to assisting companies of all proportions to find document shredding solutions that meet their needs. Whether you will benefit from ongoing services or just require a one time shredding purge, we can help.

Call us today at (719) 544-5460 or fill out the form on the right for more information on services available near you, and we will get you several quoted options for free.

Dangers of Burning Paper

A recent example is a woman in Jefferson Township who was burning paper in her basement. The fire got out of control and the fire department had to put out the blaze.  The initial savings of not calling a certified shredding company ended up costing approximately $1,100 in fire/smoke damages.  Having a fire to destroy information is one of the more popular ideas out there but it's not the best way to avoid identity theft.

The best way to ensure complete, secure destruction of your personal documents is to hire a NAID Certified, bonded, insured company like ours--Mobile Record Shredders.

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What is Purge Shredding- and when should I do it?

What is Purge Shredding?

When a business or individual needs to have a big amount of documents shredded for a one-time event, it is called purge shredding. These are documents that no longer need to be kept and are past the time required for record keeping. It is for businesses that don't normally need ongoing shredding services; and individuals who have compiled a vast amount of personal documents that they are cleaning out of storage areas or old files.

How Often Should I do it?

Most purges are done once a year, however you can request a one-time purge whenever it is necessary and have accumulated a lot of documents. Purges can include any type of shredding service, where we come to you on site and shred the documents right there or off site where we can pick up the documents for you and bring back to our facility for shredding.

Sometimes a one time purge may be all you need, but if you find yourself with many documents around the same time each year a routine purge service may be more cost-effective in the long run, and can protect the company better by limiting liability and the chance of a data breach. The scheduled ongoing purges are agreed upon by you and the shredder and you no longer have to worry about what to do with your confidential documents.

How do I locate a Shredder?

Do you have questions on how to prepare your documents for purge shredding or how often you should schedule a purge? We can help! Our staff of experts can help you with any of your purge shredding questions. Give us a call at (719) 544-5460, for any pricing or prepping questions you may have or check out our website.

Get rid of documents you no longer need!

Stacks of paper here. And more there. Old files on one shelf and tax returns and bank statements on the other. Get rid of the clutter if you don’t need them! But shred, to avoid any worry of your documents getting into the wrong hands.

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Regular Document Destruction is More Important than Ever

Once trash is put out in a public place for disposal, it cannot be expected to remain private. By law, anything that goes curbside, is officially fair game for those lurking in the shadows and looking to steal your identity.  Which makes proper document destruction even more important than ever.

In a business setting, trade secrets, client information, and even confidential employee information could all be compromised, resulting in severe damage to the business’s reputation. In a personal setting, any information that has your date of birth, social security number, or any other confidential information can get into the hand of an identity thief and cause irreparable damage.

Make sure to safeguard your confidential documents by outsourcing your document destruction and choosing a shredding service that is familiar with local and federal document destruction laws. Shredding services, like Mobile Record Shredders hold confidentiality at the highest of regard and have extremely high standards in place to safeguard all documents once in possession. Whether it’s an on or off-site service, we are here to help you keep your documents safe.

Visit our services page for more information about what we have to offer you.