The University of Florida Health has announced nearly 1,000 patients may have had their medical records accessed in a new data breach.
“On Aug. 9, 2022, University of Florida Health Shands learned that an employee may have inappropriately accessed information in patients’ medical records outside the scope of the employee’s job duties between April 27, 2021 and July 21, 2022,” the hospital system said in a statement.
UF Health, which is the parent company of UF Health-The Villages Hospital and UF Health-Leesburg Hospital, said 941 patients have been notified as a result of the data breach.
“An investigation into the incident determined that certain patient demographic information (such as name, date of birth, mailing address and phone number), medical record number, physician’s name and limited clinical information (such as diagnosis/conditions and visit dates) may have been accessed or viewed. In some instances, the insurance group and subscriber/policy numbers may have also been involved. This incident did not involve Social Security numbers,” UF Health said in the statement.
Upon learning of this incident, UF Health immediately began an investigation to assess the information impacted and terminated the employee’s access to all medical record and other information systems.
This individual who accessed the information is no longer employed by UF Health.
All affected patients have been notified by mail about this incident. If you did not get a letter in the mail but would like to know if your information was affected, call 1-833-903-3648 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
CEO of UF Health Ed Jimenez resigned earlier this summer. Jimenez was at the helm in 2021 when a ransomware attack froze up the computers at UF Health-The Villages Hospital and UF Health-Leesburg Hospital. The attack, which Jimenez attempted to dismiss as a glitch, caused major headaches for Villagers who attempted to access medical care through the hospitals.
Last year, a patient from Lake County, filed a class action lawsuit against UF Health over the data breach. She said she fears her information has been exposed on the dark web.
