Paul and I were walking for a coffee and walked by all this shredded paper at the corner of Allen and Delaware. We looked through a few pieces and they turned out to be medical records. Lab results, orders, documents - we even found a write up for an employee.
I called the the number for a nearby medical office and apparently it probably ripped open when the recycler picked it up. I wonder how much in HIPPA violations this could have been?
Besides compromising the privacy of patients and employees, what a mess. That seems very irresponsible for a medial office. They might try to pass the blame onto the recycler, but at the end of the day the medical office could have had better controls over this stuff. I know of offices that contract out to a vendor for shredding sensitive material but also require a manager from their own office to be present while the documents are destroyed to ensure proper handling.