Cyberattack on Help at Home Affects 26,700 Current & Former Patients
Data breaches have been reported by Help at Home, Kinsler Family Dentistry, ParkTree Community Health Center, and Providence Pediatrics Manito.
Help at Home
HAH Group Holding Company, a home healthcare provider that does business as Help at Home, has discovered the protected health information of 26,744 individuals has been exposed at one of its vendors. The vendor notified Help at Home about the intrusion on March 21, 2021; however, at the time, it was unclear to what extent personal information was involved.
The unnamed former vendor conducted a review of the affected data and confirmed on June 19, 2024, that the information exposed and potentially stolen in the incident included names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, usernames and passwords, and/or certain medical, health insurance, and/or treatment information. HAH Group Holding Company mailed individual notifications on August 16, 2024, and has offered complimentary credit monitoring services.
Kinsler Family Dentistry
Kinsler Family Dentistry, the Frankfort, IN, dental practice of Julie D. Kinsler DDS, has notified 5,500 current and former patients that some of their protected health information was stored on systems that were accessed by an unauthorized third party. The incident occurred on or around June 6, 2024, and disrupted access to certain systems. Assisted by third-party cybersecurity experts, Kinsler Family Dentistry determined that files on the compromised systems were accessed and acquired by the attacker, some of which contained patient data.
Get The FREE
HIPAA Compliance Checklist
Immediate Delivery of Checklist Link To Your Email Address
Please Enter Correct Email Address
Your Privacy Respected
HIPAA Journal Privacy Policy
The file review was completed on July 19, 2024, and it was confirmed that names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, insurance numbers, and dental treatment and/or medical history information had been compromised. The cyberattack was reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, individual notifications were mailed on August 9, 2024, and complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services have been made available. Additional measures have been implemented to enhance network security to prevent similar incidents in the future.
ParkTree Community Health Center
Pomona Community Health Center, which does business as ParkTree Community Health Center in Ponoma, CA, has warned patients that some of their sensitive information may have been exposed to an unauthorized third party, who accessed its network on February 7, 2024. The notification to the California Attorney General indicates that information potentially compromised includes first and last names, dates of birth, health plan identification numbers, medical record numbers, contact information, gender, and clinical information such as diagnoses, medications, and doctor’s notes. Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers were not compromised, so the affected patients are not at risk of identity theft; however, they have been advised to be vigilant against the misuse of their information and should monitor their account statements, explanation of benefits statements, and credit reports.
ParkTree Community Health Center said it takes many steps to keep personal information secure; however, on this occasion, those measures were circumvented. Security policies and procedures are being reviewed and will be updated to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Update: The breach has been reported to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights as affecting 40,964 individuals.
Providence Pediatrics Manito
Providence Pediatrics Manito in Spokane, WA, has discovered a mailing error that occurred on June 24, 2024, that resulted in letters being mailed to 1,166 patients that included their mailing address but the name of a different patient. The letters were sent to notify patients of Dr. Shane Carson that he was leaving the practice. The letters contained no other personal information other than an incorrect name, which had been included as a result of a technical error. Providence Pediatrics Manito said notification letters were mailed to the affected patients and their guardians to be transparent and out of an abundance of caution.
