A phishing email scam sent to Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Health employees may have exposed 13,000 patients' personal information, MassLive.com reports.
In August, several Baystate employees received an email claiming to be from the human resources department regarding salary changes. When five employees clicked on the email, they gave the sender access to their account and the patient database. The database included patients' names, demographic information, dates of birth, health insurance ID numbers and the occasional patient diagnosis or treatment. Financial information, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and medical charts were not exposed due to the phishing scam.
Baystate officials said they do not have any evidence to prove the exposed information has been taken or abused.
The health system started sending letters to affected patients last week. Baystate also set up a phone line for patients who do not receive a letter by Nov. 5 but believe their information has been compromised.