Call Center Information for TRICARE Users

Overview

On September 14, 2011, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) discovered and reported to TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) a data breach involving personally identifiable and protected health information (PII/PHI) impacting an estimated 4.9 million military clinic and hospital patients. The information was contained on backup tapes from an electronic health care record used in the Military Health System (MHS) to capture patient data from 1992 through September 7, 2011, and may include Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers, and some personal health data such as clinical notes, laboratory tests and prescriptions. There is no financial data, such as credit card or bank account information, on the backup tapes. The risk of harm to patients is judged to be low despite the data elements involved since retrieving the data on the tapes would require knowledge of and access to specific hardware and software and knowledge of the system and data structure.

Considering the totality of the circumstances, TMA determined that potentially impacted persons or households will be individually notified of this incident by letter. TMA also directed SAIC to provide credit monitoring for one year to affected persons requesting such services, as well as identity theft restoration services for one year for persons subject to identity theft as a result of the incident. SAIC began mailing these letters in early November and it will take approximately four weeks for all letters to be delivered. In the interim, TMA and SAIC will continually update the web announcements to keep everyone aware of the situation.

The incident continues to be investigated and additional information will be published as soon as it is available. Meanwhile, TMA and SAIC are reviewing current data protection security policies and procedures to prevent similar breaches in the future. Anyone believing they are affected by this incident should call toll free 855.366.0140 in the U.S. or collect 952.556.8312 international for further information. Click here to see the TRICARE announcement.