Numerous privacy incidents at hospitals, IT suppliers and other healthcare organizations captured public attention last month.
While some security incidents only affected a few thousand individuals, others were said to have affected close to 200,000.
Fourtine healthcare privacy incidents reported by Becker's Hospital Review in August:
Editor's note: Incidents are presented in order of the number of patients or organizations affected.
1. Albuquerque, N.M-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services notified 183,000 patients of a phishing attack at the health system that may have exposed their protected health information.
2. Louisiana physicians' network Imperial Health has alerted more than 116,000 patients of a ransomware attack that may have compromised their personal information.
3. Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratories is the latest company to alert customers that their data may have been exposed in a data breach at American Medical Collection Agency.
4. Aberdeen, Wash.-based Grays Harbor Community Hospital notified around 85,000 patients of a June 15 ransomware attack on its systems that may have exposed patients' personal and medical information.
5. Integrated Regional Laboratories in Florida notified around 30,000 patients that their health information may have been exposed in the American Medical Collection Agency data breach.
6. Reno, Nev.-based Renown Health alerted 27,004 patients that their protected health information may have been exposed in a data breach.
7. Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital notified 10,000 patients that their personal health information may have been exposed in a data breach.
8. Around 3,200 Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine employees were targets in a phishing attack. Of those employees, three responded to the phishing emails, which may have exposed patient information.
9. Tempe-based Arizona State University began notifying 4,000 students Aug. 16 that their email addresses "were accidentally" revealed in a data breach.
10. An unauthorized user gained access June 19 to a server that stored patient information at Providence-based Rhode Island Ear, Nose and Throat Physicians.
11. Macon, Ga.-based Navicent Health began notifying 1,400 patients that their information may have been exposed in a data breach.
12. Danbury-based Western Connecticut Health Network notified an unknown number of patients Aug. 19 about a shipping incident that may have exposed their personal health information.
13. Vinton, Iowa-based Virginia Gay Hospital alerted an unknown number of patients about a phishing attack that may have exposed their protected health information.
14. Two employees at Columbia-based University of Missouri Health Care were targets of a phishing attack that gave an unauthorized third-party access to the email accounts between April 23 and May 1.