Employee Stole ER Patient Data in Multiple Jersey Hospitals

A billing clerk stole information on individuals admitted to three Bergen County, N.J. hospitals.

“The scope of the breach remains unclear. The billing company, Medical Management LLC, based in North Carolina, has contracts with 40 physician groups across the nation and thousands of patients at White Plains Hospital in New York and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have also been warned that their personal information had been compromised,” in addition to those at the Bergen area hospitals, according to NewJersey.com.

The hospitals were not responsible for hiring the outside billing company.

The suspect’s employer handles billing for emergency department physicians at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, and Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.

The individual allegedly passed on the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of patients to a third party.

The employee suspected worked at Medical Management from February 2013 until March 2015, when the breach was discovered.

The medical billing company learned, from federal authorities, of the inside attack on March 16.