EvergreenHealth in the Seattle area has notified patients of a data security incident affecting its eye clinic.
The health network learned of the breach from Eye Care Leaders, provider of the myCare Integrity electronic medical record platform, on March 1.
“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,” EvergreenHealth stated in a notice on its website. “This information may have included patient names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, and information regarding care received at EvergreenHealth Eye Care Clinic.”
The myCare Integrity electronic medical record platform only contained medical information regarding care received in the EvergreenHealth Eye Care Clinic.
The incident “potentially impacted 20,533 individuals,” Health IT Security reported, citing the U.S. Office for Civil Rights.
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Read the full notice from Evergreen Health:
EvergreenHealth was notified of a data security incident experienced by Eye Care Leaders, a third-party provider of the myCare Integrity electronic medical record platform that is used by the EvergreenHealth Eye Care Clinic.
On March 1, 2022, Eye Care Leaders notified EvergreenHealth that Eye Care Leaders experienced a data security incident that may have resulted in unauthorized access to some EvergreenHealth patient information. According to Eye Care Leaders, on or around December 4, 2021, an unauthorized party accessed myCare Integrity data and deleted databases and system configuration files. According to Eye Care Leaders, upon identifying the activity, Eye Care Leaders’ incident response team immediately stopped the unauthorized access and began investigating the incident. Notably, this incident did not involve unauthorized access to any EvergreenHealth systems.
On March 28, 2022, Eye Care Leaders informed EvergreenHealth that Eye Care Leaders’ investigation is ongoing and that it does not know whether or not any EvergreenHealth patient information was involved in the incident. 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.
The myCare Integrity electronic medical record platform only contained medical information regarding care received in the EvergreenHealth Eye Care Clinic. Any non-Eye Care Clinic medical services received from EvergreenHealth would not have been in the myCare Integrity electronic medical record platform. EvergreenHealth patients’ personal financial information, including banking information, credit card number(s) or Social Security number, was not involved.
On April 22, 2022, EvergreenHealth began mailing letters to patients whose information may have been involved in the incident. We have also established a dedicated, toll-free call center to answer questions that patients may have. If patients have questions, they should call 833-675-2107, Monday through Friday, between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Pacific Time. We recommend that patients whose information may have been involved in this incident review the statements they receive from their healthcare providers. If they see any services that were not received, they should contact the provider immediately.
EvergreenHealth regrets any concern or inconvenience the Eye Care Leaders data security incident may cause. EvergreenHealth is examining its vendor relationship with Eye Care Leaders and evaluating their security safeguards.
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