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April 22, 2019 12:21 PM

Physician-staffing firm email breach exposes 31,000 patients' data

Jessica Kim Cohen
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    An unauthorized user recently accessed several employee email accounts at physician-staffing firm EmCare, compromising personal information from roughly 31,000 patients.

    EmCare said it became aware of the data security incident "recently," leading to an internal investigation. It has engaged a forensic security firm to determine the scope of the breach, according to a notice the company posted online Saturday. EmCare determined on Feb. 19 that the email accounts in question contained patient data, including some names, dates of birth, clinical information and Social Security numbers.

    An EmCare spokesperson said the company is not releasing information regarding when it learned of the breach.

    "Our focus is on providing impacted individuals information about the incident and guidance on how they can protect themselves," she wrote in an email.

    The breached employee email accounts contained personal information from up to 60,000 people, including roughly 31,000 patients, the spokesperson confirmed. Others affected in the breach included employees and contractors.

    EmCare said it does not know if the unauthorized user obtained any of the personal information held in the breached email accounts. The company began notifying affected patients, employees and contractors Friday.

    The incident is part of an industrywide rise in email breaches.

    Since 2017, email has been the primary outlet through which data is exposed in healthcare. There were 85 email breaches in 2017—more than double the number reported in 2016—accounting for nearly one-quarter of all healthcare breaches. In previous years, healthcare organizations and their business associates were more likely to attribute breaches to theft of paper records or laptops.

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        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
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        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
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      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
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