The healthcare data breach tracker maintained by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed on Monday that more than 300,000 individuals are affected by a recent cybersecurity incident at Vitas Healthcare.
Chemed-owned Vitas Healthcare is described as the largest for-profit hospice chain in the United States.
In a statement posted on a dedicated data breach notice website on November 21, the organization revealed that Vitas Hospice Services discovered an intrusion on October 24.
An investigation found that the attacker gained access to some Vitas systems using a compromised vendor account, maintaining access from approximately September 21 to October 27.
During that time frame, the hacker downloaded personal information belonging to current and former patients, including names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, SSNs, medical information, insurance information, and contact information for next of kin.
The HHS’s healthcare data breach tracker shows that the incident has impacted 319,177 individuals.
It’s unclear whether Vitas was targeted in a ransomware attack. No known ransomware group appears to have taken credit for an attack on the organization.
While the impact of the Vitas data breach may seem significant, it’s not uncommon for healthcare data breaches to affect hundreds of thousands and even millions of people.
Related: Tri-Century Eye Care Data Breach Impacts 200,000 Individuals
Related: NHS Investigating Oracle EBS Hack Claims as Hackers Name Over 40 Alleged Victims
Related: SimonMed Imaging Data Breach Impacts 1.2 Million
Related: Synnovis Confirms Patient Information Stolen in Disruptive Ransomware Attack
