UK contacted more than 800 patients last week about a UK HealthCare employee’s phone that was lost, which contained patient health information.

Last Wednesday, UK issued a public notice in the Lexington Herald-Leader, informing people about the possible breach of health information.

UK spokeswoman Kristi Lopez said UK HealthCare notified the 878 people whose information was on the phone.

The phone was lost Sept. 25 and hasn’t been found, she said.

“We don’t have any reason to believe that they have used the information,” Lopez said about whoever has the phone.

According to the notice, the phone contained emails with information that may have included “health conditions with medical record numbers and, in some cases, names. No Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or credit card, debit card or bank account numbers were exposed.”

Lopez said UK HealthCare has a process to encrypt all laptops, and currently is working on a process to encrypt mobile devices, too, in order to better protect people’s information.

She advised patients to monitor their accounts.

For more information, contact 859-323-6044 or privacy@uky.edu.