Orthopedic Associates of Dutchess County in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., recently began notifying patients that their protected health information was exposed by a hacking incident.
The practice said it discovered suspicious activity on its computer systems March 5. Its investigation revealed that an unauthorized user infiltrated its network on or about March 1 and encrypted certain systems. The hacker also claims to have removed and/or have viewed certain files, the practice said.
The files exposed in the incident contained patient Social Security numbers, names, addresses, birth dates, medical record numbers and patient ID numbers, according to the practice.
The FBI and HHS were notified of the incident, and the practice said it is updating its security policies and procedures to prevent recurrences.