Patient data at a New Mexico health system has been breached in a cybersecurity incident involving its law firm, the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal reported.
Thompson Coburn, a firm that works with Albuquerque-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services on government billing and repayment, experienced the data breach in late May during which patient information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth and health insurance info was accessed or stolen by a hacker, according to the Nov. 5 story.
"While Thompson Coburn is sending letters to potentially impacted patients this week, the law firm does not have any indication that identity theft or fraud has occurred related to this incident," a spokesperson for the nine-hospital system told the newspaper.
Third-party data breaches have exploded in healthcare in recent years as health systems have strengthened their own cybersecurity and healthcare data has become more valuable on the black market, at a time of increasing interconnectedness.