Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston is notifying patients of a privacy incident after learning hackers accessed the electronic files of a third-party vendor.
Patterson Dental Supply Inc. supplies dental practice management software for Massachusetts GeneralHospital's dental practice. The hospital learned on Feb. 8 that an unauthorized individual accessed PDSI's files, some of which included information on MGH's dental practice patients.
Potentially compromised information includes names, birth dates and Social Security numbers. Some files included date and type of dental appointment, dental provider name and medical record number. Boston Business Journal reports the incident affected approximately 4,300 patients.
In its notification, MGH said the privacy incident did not involve any unauthorized access to the hospital's files or systems.
Though the hospital learned of the breach in February, law enforcement required the hospital to wait to inform patients and the public until it had finished its investigation, according to MGH's notification.
The hospital said PDSI has taken steps to enhance the security of its systems.
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