Providence Home Services has begun contacting current and former patients following the theft of tapes and disks that hold confidential data. The theft involves the records of some 365,000 patients who received health care through Providence Home Services

"In an announcement yesterday, Providence Home Services, a division of Seattle-based Providence Health Systems, said the [about 365,000] records and other data were on several disks and tapes stolen from the car of a Providence employee at his home."