Hackers breached an Iowa hospital's IT network, accessing or downloading patient files.
Carroll, Iowa-based St. Anthony Regional Hospital said it noticed suspicious activity on its IT systems Aug. 26 and later determined that an unauthorized party had access to part of its network between Aug. 14 and Aug. 28. The compromised data may have included names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, financial information, treatments, and diagnoses.
The hospital told HHS on Oct. 25 that 501 individuals were affected (though that number is often used as a placeholder when a healthcare provider doesn't yet know the exact amount).
"We are currently undertaking a comprehensive review to determine the information that may have been present in the potentially impacted files and to whom the information relates," the hospital said in a statement. "Once complete, we will notify potentially affected individuals identified through the review process via written letter."