LifeBridge alerts patients about email phishing scam

Carroll Hospital, along with other LifeBridge Health hospitals, has set up tents outside the emergency department to provide extra triage capacity in the event of a local outbreak of the coronavirus also known as COVID-19.

Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health is dealing with another data breach.

The nonprofit healthcare system, which operates several hospitals and other medical facilities in the region, sent letters to patients and families about an email phishing incident that was discovered on Nov. 12.

LifeBridge determined that an unauthorized third party accessed a limited number of employees’ email accounts from Aug. 27 to Sept. 21 and may have obtained patient information.

“LifeBridge takes this matter very seriously, and to help prevent an incident like this from happening again, the health system continues to provide privacy and cybersecurity training to its staff and identify additional safeguards to enhance the security of its email environment,” the company told members in a written statement.

LifeBridge officials could not be reached for comment.

The health system conducted a detailed review and analysis of the contents of the email accounts and determined that the information involved may have included some patients’ names, according to a news release. Other critical information, such as birth dates, Social Security numbers, medical record numbers and claim numbers, might have also been exposed.

LifeBridge determined that patient electronic health records were not involved and the incident did not affect all of its patients.

As a precaution, LifeBridge is offering eligible patients complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services. The firm recommends that patients affected by the breach review the statements they receive from their health insurance and healthcare providers.

If there are charges for services they did not receive, the patient should contact the insurer or provider immediately.

In 2022, LifeBridge Health agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from a data breach that was initially disclosed in May 2018. LifeBridge Health had to notify 500,000 patients that their personal information may have been exposed in a cyber attack.

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