Brigham and Women’s & Mass General Entangled in Partners HealthCare Breach

Partners HealthCare employees responded to “phishing” e-mail lures, which allowed intruders to open their e-mail accounts.

Some of the messages contained private patient data, including Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, and information about medical treatments and health insurance.

Partners said it detected the incident last fall. Individuals were informed by mail on April 30.

“We notified patients as soon as we could determine their information may have been affected,” a company spokesman said.

There is no evidence yet that patient information had been misused.

People affected by the breach include patients of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, North Shore Medical Center, Partners Continuing Care, and Newton-Wellesley Hospital.