Eye care provider Cherry Health says data breach impacted close to 185,000 patients

Michigan-based Cherry Street Services said it experienced a data security incident that compromised the sensitive personal information of almost 185,000 individuals.

 

Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Cherry Street Services (Cherry Health) provides advanced clinical training and comprehensive optometric care, including the diagnosis and management of a wide range of primary eye care and ocular disease conditions across six different counties within the state.

 

In a regulatory filing with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, Cherry Health said that on December 21, it experienced a network disruption that affected daily operations across all clinics.

 

The healthcare provider immediately began an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident. The investigation revealed that an unauthorised third party had gained access to "certain data" maintained by the eye care provider.

 

The compromised data includes full names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, health insurance information, health insurance ID numbers, patient ID numbers, provider names, service dates, diagnosis and treatment information, prescription information, financial account information and Social Security numbers.

 

Cherry Health informed the Maine Attorney General’s Office that the unauthorised intrusion into its systems compromised the data of at least 184,372 individuals.

 

“We have implemented additional technical safeguards to further enhance the security of data we maintain and to prevent something similar from happening in the future,” Cherry Health said.

 

While the eye care provider found no evidence of the compromised information being misused, it advised all affected individuals to regularly monitor their credit reports, account and benefit statements and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities, including the police and state attorney general.

 

Cherry Health has also offered one year of complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services through IDX to all affected customers.