Texas Health Resources says 82,000 patients affected in billing error

Arlington-based Texas Health Resources said it accidentally mailed patient information in a billing error, affecting about 82,000 patients, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The nonprofit health system told the newspaper Oct. 22 that the information was "matched with and sent to the incorrect guarantor."

Information sent in error included patient names, account numbers, service dates, physician and health insurer names, medical debt amounts, and sometimes, short service descriptions. 

Texas Health Resources said patient Social Security numbers, health insurance identification numbers and financial information were not revealed, and it does not appear that information had been misused, according to the Star-Telegram.

Most affected patients received care between July 19 and Sept. 4.

The newspaper reported that Texas Health Resources attributed the error to a misconfiguration in its billing system that was discovered in August, and the health system is notifying people whose information may have been sent improperly.

The health system also told the Star-Telegram it is working to improve its data security and will correct the error.

 

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