UMass Memorial cites possible patient data breach
Personal information for as many as 14,000 patients of UMass Memorial Health Care’s outpatient practices may have been compromised last year, the health care system said.
UMass Memorial said Friday that it has begun to notify potentially affected patients.
In a statement, UMass Memorial (UMMHC) said it learned of the potential breach within its UMass Memorial Medical Group unit in April 2014. It “immediately” launched an investigation and reported it to law enforcement. UMMHC said it’s announcing the action now because law enforcement investigators required withholding notification of patients during their probe.
In its investigation, the medical group identified an employee who may have accessed billing records outside of normal job duties from Jan. 7 to May 7, 2014. That employee is no longer with the medical group, UMMHC said.
Also, last August, law enforcement investigators told the organization that they found copies of some patient billing documents in the possession of an unauthorized person.
Information that could have been accessed by the former employee may have included names, addresses, dates of birth, medical record numbers and Social Security numbers, UMass Memorial said. The information may also have included credit or debit card numbers used for payments to the medical group, along with phone numbers and email addresses, the organization said.
“We continue to work with law enforcement in their investigation,” the statement read. UMass Memorial Medical Group “is committed to the security of patient information and it is taking this matter very seriously.”
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