Partners' breach the result of phishing emails
Employees at Partners HealthCare system in Boston fell for the bait of phishing emails that appeared to be legitimate, and released information of about 3,300 patients.
The incident occurred in November but the organization isn't revealing why it waited until now to disclose the breach.
Information revealed included patient names, addresses, dates of birth, telephone numbers, and in some cases Social Security numbers, clinical information such as diagnoses and treatment, medical record numbers and health insurance information, according to a Partners announcement.
The organization has set up a call center to answer questions and is advising patients to review explanation of benefits statements from their health insurer to confirm the listed services are legitimate.
The notice also said that Partners is re-enforcing workforce education and enhancing existing technical safeguards to protect patient information.
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.