Billing Firm Employee Blamed For Data Breach At White Plains Hospital, Other Facilities

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- White Plains Hospital and several other hospitals in New York state were recently hit with a data breach that occurred through a medical billing company, the hospital announced Tuesday.

The breach an employee of involved Medical Management LLC, or MML, which provides coding and billing services for the emergency department at the hospital, White Plains Hospital said.

Federal authorities informed MML on March 16 that a call center employee who was authorized to work within the billing system had copied certain items from the system and had given them to a third party, the hospital said.

The employee was fired on the spot, and the company launched a broad investigation, the hospital said.

The personal information that was disclosed included names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, the hospital said. There was no indication that any medical history or treatment information was disclosed, the hospital said.

Anyone who might have had information compromised is being notified by mail, the hospital said.

Those affected by the breach are also being offered identity theft protection services at no cost through risk mitigation firm Kroll Inc. Victims are also advised to place a fraud alert or a security freeze on their accounts through a national credit bureau, and to review all bills and account statements.

Those with questions may call the Kroll Call Center at (855) 330-6364, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.