Possible Data Breach For Cherry Hill Hospital Patients: What To Know

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Jefferson Health warned patients Tuesday of a potential data breach at its Cherry Hill hospital. The concern arose after the hospital realized that a medical device with private information has gone missing.

On June 15, a maintenance vendor was on-site for routine maintenance of the hospital's DEXA (dual x-ray absorptiometry) scan backup drive — part of a scanning device used to measure bone density. The service technician noticed that the portable backup device was missing from the larger scan machine, according to Jefferson Health.

"Upon a full investigation, it cannot be determined if the device was lost or stolen," Jefferson Health said Tuesday in a news release.

But the health-care provider found that the drive contained personal information about patients, including protected health matters. Viewable information may include names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, the date of studies and, in some cases, mailing addresses.

The following, however, isn't viewable without the appropriate credentials, exact system software and additional technology: diagnosis, phone numbers, social security numbers, insurance or driver's license numbers and the actual scans.

Jefferson Health began mailing letters Tuesday to patients with information stored on the backup device. The health-care network encouraged patients to monitor their credit reports and to contact any of the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on their credit report. Patients with questions can call the dedicated call center toll-free at 833-627-2796.

"Jefferson Health is committed to protecting the security and privacy of patient information and is reviewing and enhancing its security protocols," the news release said.