A contractor error made private data from all Bon Secours clients to end up online.
Private patient data belonging to Bon Secours had been leaked online, due to an incident with one of the clinic’s partners.
The issue impacts all the patients from all the states where Bon Secours has opened services. The privacy problem had been discovered on the 14th of June by one of the company’s staff member.
“We have been notifying all patients that R-C Healthcare Management, a company doing work for Bon Secours, inadvertently left files containing patient information accessible on the internet when attempting to adjust their network settings from April 18-21, 2016. This was not a breach, or our systems were not hacked,” said Terri McNorton, vice president of communication at Bon Secours Health System.
Up until now, around 655,000 patients had been notified of the problem. The healthcare company said that there is no indication of fraudulent activity following the incident.
The leaked information included patient name, health insurance identification number, health insurer’s name, Social Security Number, and clinical data.
However, the company assured its clients that medical records were not the subject of the information leak, and that the details of their medical history, diagnosis and treatment had not been misused.
Bon Secours is currently working with its contractors to improve the security of their data storage systems, in order to ensure the privacy right of their patients.
The company is also offering its customers free credit monitoring, identity protection and alert services, all available for one year. All the security details had been included in the letters of notification sent to each client.
A free-toll line was opened for customers that have questions regarding the privacy matter or for those who want to express their concern. The company’s website had also been updated with information concerning the issue.
The healthcare facility system is headquartered Marriottsville, Maryland, and includes 19 acute-care hospitals, five nursing care facilities, several programs of hospice and home care, four assisted living facilities, and one psychiatric hospital. The health system is Catholic and not-for-profit.
The first Catholic Baltimore health service had been established by the Sisters of Bon Secours who came to the city from Paris in the middle of the 18th century. In 1919, a philanthropist helped to open a Roman Catholic hospital which later merged with Liberty Medical Center.
Due to high costs, the hospital considered at some point renouncing their inpatient services. The hospital is located in an area with high unemployment and poverty rates.
Bon Secours Health System is active in seven states, and it’s partly supported by the state.
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