Utah hiring crisis team to manage health data breach

The state of Utah is hiring a public relations firm to handle "crisis communications" in the wake of a health data breach that put the personal information of 780,000 people at risk. The contract will be short-lived and will cost between $100,000 and $200,000, according to a solicitation published on May 11. It calls for building a communications plan to "rebuild trust with the public, specifically those who were directly impacted by the breach and those who rely on the [Utah Department of Health] for critical health services." The damage-control blitz marks a third attempt by the Utah Department of Health to seek outside aid in managing the breach.