SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) confirmed that personal health information from SRHD patients may have been leaked.
According to an SRHD statement, the SRHD Information Technology (IT) staff were alerted of an unauthorized breach of personal health information via a phishing email on Dec. 21, 2021.
Phishing is a type of cybercrime in which scammers try to get personal information or data from people, by disguising themselves as a trustworthy source through emails, text messages or phone calls.
SRHD says its IT staff previously started an internal investigation that concluded this past week, discovering that files containing client-protected health information may have been “previewed” by the data thief. However, the investigation did not find any documents that had been opened, accessed or downloaded.
The SRHD said the potential disclosure affects more than 1,000 individuals, and it includes patients' personal information, including first and last name, date of birth, clients' case numbers, counselor’s name, results and dates of urinalysis, name of medication received, date of the last dose and information of any action taken.
According to SRHD Deputy Administrative Officer Lola Phillips, SRHD has implemented appropriate corrective actions to mitigate unauthorized disclosure of information in the future.
Phillips said they have stopped the current breach by reinforcing their cyber security training with staff that includes the use of multi-factor authentication and performing additional testing on the system.
“We are committed to protecting the information of our clients and sincerely apologize for this incident,” Phillips said.
SRHD said patients whose information was included in the potential disclosure were notified, and no social security numbers or financial information were noted on any of the documents. However, those affected are encouraged to monitor their bank accounts and report any suspicious activity immediately.
SRHD says Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from the insurance companies should also be monitored for possible ID theft activities.
People with additional questions can call the SRHD’s Privacy Officer at 509324-1439, (Toll-free: 800-854-9173), email the privacy officer at prhoades@srhd.org, or send a mail to the Spokane Regional Health District, Attn. Privacy Officer at 1101 W. College Ave., Spokane, WA 99201.