As many as 2 million eyecare patients across the country are now known to have been potentially affected in a data security incident.
The tally has grown steadily in recent weeks as more organizations have reported being affected. The number grew by 1.3 million recently with the addition of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center to the list, Health IT Security reports.
The breach involves Eye Care Leaders, provider of the myCare Integrity electronic medical record platform. The incident resulted in “the deletion of databases and systems configuration data,” according to Gov Info Security.
The breach took place in December, with affected practices being notified on March 1.
Health IT Security lists 21 practices that have reported the data breach to the U.S. Office for Civil Rights. It reports that Eye Care Leaders “is now facing multiple lawsuits regarding its handling of the breach.”
EvergreenHealth stated in a notice on its website: “Although Eye Care Leaders has not confirmed that any EvergreenHealth patient information was accessed as a result of the incident, they have informed EvergreenHealth that they cannot rule out that possibility. This information may have included patient names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, and information regarding care received at EvergreenHealth Eye Care Clinic.”