Radiology practice experiences cyberattack impacting 569,000 patients
A Tennessee radiology practice recently experienced a data breach impacting 569,000 patients, according to an announcement issued Tuesday.
Plaza Radiology—doing business as Chattanooga Imaging—first filed notice about the attack with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights on Dec. 20. The practice believes the breach stems from a cyberattack discovered on Oct. 21.
“After conducting an investigation, Chattanooga Imaging confirmed that certain files containing sensitive information were accessed by an unauthorized party,” law firm Console & Associates, P.C., said in a Jan. 23 announcement.
Chattanooga Imaging has not yet released the list of data exposed in the incident, but C&A noted that it did contain Social Security numbers. The imaging group recently completed a forensic investigation and is analyzing the information, with plans to send personalized letters to those impacted. IT leaders also have changed passwords, enabled multifactor authentication, replaced multiple computers and servers, and increased security training.
“While we have not received any report of fraudulent misuse of the information, Plaza [Radiology] sincerely regrets any inconvenience or concern that this matter may cause and remains dedicated to ensuring the privacy and security of all information in our control,” the practice said in its own announcement.
Based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company has six locations across the Volunteer State and Georgia, providing a full range of subspecialized radiology services.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.