Syracuse-based Practice Resources has announced that they have recently experienced a data breach involving the protected health information of 924,138 individuals. Practice Resources is a provider of billing and other professional services to a number of healthcare entities.
On April 12, 2022, Practices Resources was subject to a ransomware attack. According to the breach notification letter submitted to the California Attorney General, the service provider immediately launched a forensic investigation with third-party cybersecurity experts upon discovery. In the investigation, Practice Resources worked to determine the nature of the ransomware attack and to identify what personal information had been subject to unauthorized access. The investigation concluded that the hackers may have obtained information including full names, treatment dates, addresses, health plan numbers, and medical record numbers. Despite the conclusion, Practice Resources were unable to identify any misuse of the information.
In response to the attack, the service provider issued breach notification letters to all individuals affected by the breach on behalf of 28 healthcare clients. The letter detailed the steps affected individuals can take to protect their identity, credit, and personal information to mitigate the risk of harm. The steps recommended include contacting the nationwide credit-reporting agencies as soon as possible to implement a fraud alert statement to a credit file, carefully monitoring bills and credit card statements, and contacting the Federal Trade Commision for consumer assistance and educational materials regarding identity theft and privacy issues. Practice Resources is also offering identity theft protection and credit monitoring services free of charge to all individuals who had their PHI exposed.
In the breach notification, Practice Resources have included a list of the healthcare entities affected by the ransomware attack. These include:
Achieve Physical Therapy, PC,CNY Obstetrics and Gynecology, P.C., Community Memorial Hospital, Inc, Crouse Health Hospital, Inc, Crouse Medical Practice PLLC, Family Care Medical Group, PC, Fitness Forum Physical Therapy, PC, FLH Medical PC, Greece Dermatological Associates, PC, Guidone Physical Therapy, PC, Hamilton Orthopedic Surgery & Sports Medicine, Helendale Dermatological and Medical Spa, PLLC, Kudos Medical, PLLC, Laboratory Alliance of Central New York, LLC, Liverpool Physical Therapy, PC, Michael J Paciorek, MD PC, Nephrology Associates of Watertown, PC, Nephrology Hypertension Associates of CNY, PC, Orthopedics East, PC, Salvation Army, Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital—Physician Practices, St. Joseph’s Medical, Surgical Care West, PLLC, Syracuse Endoscopy Associates, LLC, Syracuse Gastroenterological Associates, PC, Syracuse Pediatrics, Tully Physical Therapy, Upstate Community Medical, PC.
