WASHINGTON — A hacking/IT incident was reported Friday as health care provider MedStar Health notified 183,079 patients whose personal information may have been compromised, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.
MedStar Health claims an outside party accessed emails and files associated with three MedStar Health employee email accounts, but cannot determine what sensitive information may have been accessed.
“While we have no reason to believe that patient information was actually acquired or viewed, we cannot rule out such access,” a spokesperson for MedStar Health said on the company website.
According to the website, unauthorized access to files and emails occurred intermittently between January 25, 2023, and October 18, 2023. The information may have included patients’ names, addresses, dates of birth, dates of service, provider names and/or health insurance information.
MedStar Health encourages those whose information may have been involved to review statements and contact their health care or insurance provider if anything looks unusual. MedStar Health also announced a dedicated toll-free call center for questions regarding the data breach. Patients can call 1-888-841-4282 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for more information.
“We take this matter very seriously,” the MedStar Health website reads. “We employ appropriate physical, technical, and administrative controls to ensure the safety and confidentiality of patients’ information. Nonetheless, to help prevent something like this from happening again, we have implemented additional safeguards and security measures to enhance our existing controls. We have also notified law enforcement.”
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