ABQ Health Partners, Albuquerque, notified more than 200 patients of a potential data breach after one of its laptops went missing.

The multispecialty medical group said in an e-mailed statement that the data on the 238 orthopedic patients was "minimal" and did not contain Social Security numbers, addresses or medical histories.

Compromised patient data has been an ongoing concern for regulators. Since September 2009, the Office for Civil Rights at HHS has received notification of more than 500 medical-records breaches that affect at least 500 individuals.

Yet so far this year, the numbers suggest some improvement, with the industry averaging 10.2 major data breaches per month, down from an average of 12.8 in 2011.