Philadelphia FIGHT Community Health Centers has lately reported it encountered a cyberattack last November 30, 2021. Third-party forensic experts were involved to find out the nature and extent of the breach. Based on the investigation, there was no compromise of the health center’s electronic medical record system nor other clinical systems during the attack; nevertheless, on January 13, 2022, Philadelphia FIGHT found out that the attacker got access to non-clinical systems that stored files comprising the protected health information (PHI) of approximately 15,000 patients.
It wasn’t possible to know whether the attacker accessed or acquired any patient data, though no report was received that indicate the misuse of any patient data. The data possibly compromised during the attack involved names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, health diagnoses, treatment data, and health insurance information.
Philadelphia FIGHT stated it is doing an audit of security procedures and will improve security measures to avoid other cyberattacks.
Vendor Email Account Breach Impacts More than 6,000 Patients of Memorial Hermann Health System
Memorial Hermann Health System has announced the occurrence of a breach at one vendor that resulted in the exposure of PHI of 6,260 patients. Memorial Hermann Health System partnered with Advent Health Partners in Nashville, TN, which provides claims management services. Advent Health Partners found in September 2021 suspicious activity happening in selected employee email accounts. It confirmed on December 2, 2021 the breach of email accounts containing the PHI of its healthcare clients. Notification letters were sent starting on January 6, 2022.
Memorial Hermann Health System reported the breach of the following data: first names, last names, birth dates, driver’s licenses numbers,
Social Security numbers, financial data, medical insurance data, and treatment details. Although patient data might have been viewed, there is no evidence received that indicates any actual or attempted improper use of patient information. Memorial Hermann Health System stated Advent Health Partners is offering impacted people a free membership to a credit monitoring service.