Bellin Health considers the health, safety and privacy of our patients a top priority. This notice concerns a cybersecurity event that involved some information for patients who purchased home care equipment between 2006 and 2013.
What Happened?
On Friday, October 27, 2023, Bellin Health’s monitoring systems identified unauthorized activity on our computer network. Our information security team quickly took steps to contain the activity and began an investigation. This incident did not impact day-to-day operations.
Bellin has completed our investigation of the incident with the assistance of industry experts and has reported the activity to law enforcement. The investigation determined that an unauthorized third party accessed a specific electronic folder on our network and obtained files from the folder. This particular folder stored copies of archived, scanned documents related to the purchase of home care equipment dated between 2006 and 2013.
What Information Was Involved?
The documents involved include patient names and one or more of the following: address, phone number, date of birth and/or certain health information related to home care equipment. A limited number of documents include Social Security numbers, which at the time were sometimes used as Medicare ID numbers. (This is no longer done.)
What Bellin is Doing & What Patients Can Do
Bellin responded immediately to this event and takes it very seriously. We are continuously updating and strengthening our systems to help prevent events such as this from occurring and will continue to make additional investments in this area.
Bellin is mailing letters to individuals whose information was involved in this isolated incident. We are providing individuals whose Social Security numbers were involved with complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. Patients are encouraged to review statements from their health insurer and healthcare providers, and to contact them immediately if they see any services they did not receive.
We have set up a dedicated call center that is staffed with trained specialists who can help provide answers to questions you may have about this incident. To speak to those specialists directly, please call (888) 988-0385, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday, excluding major U.S. holidays.