Protect medical records

Be careful out there. My husband and I just received letters from a major health care provider saying all of our medical records were hacked.

Think about this. We are almost talking sacred when it’s our medical records. This is particularly disturbing because the possibilities for abuse are limitless. They stored everything about us: employers, Social Security numbers and addresses.

Anything we have ever discussed with our doctors has been stolen. You know, information you would only tell your health care practitioner, never your family and certainly not employers or your neighbors. This is the type of information that requires your written consent before a health care provider can give or discuss your medical information with other doctors, insurance companies or family members.

My concern is we hear about digital thievery so often; we are becoming immune to the severity of this insidious theft. Knowing about all the cyber attacks on electronic information, I think a major health care provider would be especially protective of our medical records.

What I want to know is who was asleep at the helm on this one?

Jacqueline Forness

Spokane