Management and Network Services (MNS), LLC, a Dublin, OH-located supplier of administrative support services to post-acute healthcare providers, has revealed that the email accounts of some of its employees have been infiltrated.
In a May 4, 2020 breach notification letter, MNS said that it became aware sometime around August 21, 2019 that a number of employee email accounts had been subjected to unauthorized access between April and July of 2019. A review of the email accounts recently showed that five accounts included the protected health information of patients of its clients.
The data included in emails and email attachments was different from individual to individual and may have included the following data elements: name, medical treatment information, diagnosis information/codes, medication information, dates of service, insurance supplier, health insurance number, date of birth, and Social Security number. A small amount of individuals also had their driver’s license number, State ID card number, and/or financial account information exposed.
MNS has implemented measure to enhance email security such as enhancing password policies across the entire group and implementing multi-factor authentication for all staff email accounts.
The HHS’ Office for Civil Rights breach portal states that 30,132 patients had some of their PHI impacted.
Elsewhere, Santa Rosa & Rohnert Park Oral Surgery on Portland, OR has revealed that the email account of one of its employees was accessed by an unauthorized person.
The breach was first discovered on March 11, 2020 when suspicious activity was seen in the email account. The forensic investigation showed that the email account was violated on December 20, 2019 and access remained possible until March 11, 2020 when the account was safeguarded. The impacted account was found to include a range of protected health information which may have been viewed or acquired by the hacker.
Affected people have been offered a free subscription to the MyIDCare credit monitoring and identity theft protection service from ID Experts. Santa Rosa & Rohnert Park Oral Surgery is reviewing and strengthening its policies and procedures and will take further steps to enhance information safety.