Norfolk, Va.-based Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters recently began notifying patients that their protected health information was exposed by an email phishing scam.
On April 20, an unauthorized user accessed a small number of employee email accounts that held the patient information, Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters said in an Aug. 10 notice. After discovering the inappropriate access, the hospital blocked the hacker and launched an investigation.
The hospital determined in July that the hacker accessed personal information from the following groups of individuals: some CHKD patients and their guarantors, certain patients of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, for whom CKHD provided lab testing and diagnostic services, and certain student athletes who CKHD provides athletic training services.
Individuals' personal information affected by the incident included names, birth dates, patient account numbers and health insurance numbers. Some individuals' Social Security numbers were also accessed.
CHKD is offering identity theft monitoring to any individuals whose Social Security number was exposed.