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Boone Hospital Center affected by possible data breach

Boone Hospital Center
KMIZ
Boone Hospital Center

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Some patient information may have been exposed after a possible security breach at BJC HealthCare.

Boone Hospital Center is one of 19 medical facilities potentially affected by the incident, according to BJC.

BJC posted a notice for patients on its website Tuesday saying it identified "suspicious activity" on three employees' email accounts.

"The investigation determined that an unauthorized person gained access to the employee email accounts for a limited period of time on March 6, 2020. The investigation was unable to determine whether the unauthorized person viewed any emails or attachments in the employee email accounts," the notice said.

BJC said it is looking over emails in those accounts to figure out what patient information may have been accessible. Officials said some of the emails may have included details like patients’ names, dates of birth, medical records or patient account numbers. In some cases, health insurance information and Social Security numbers have been identified in the accounts.

BJC says once it is done reviewing the accounts it will send letters to the patients whose information is found in the accounts. Anyone with questions is asked to call a toll-free call center that BJC set up. People can call 866-423-7547 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Officials also said they would be offering credit monitoring and identity protection services to patients whose Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers are identified in the email accounts.

"We regret any concern or inconvenience this incident may cause. We remain committed to protecting the confidentiality and security of patient information. To help prevent something like this from happening in the future, BJC has reinforced education with staff regarding how to identify and avoid suspicious emails and is making additional security enhancements to its email environment," the notice said.

The facilities affected by the security incident include the following:

  • Alton Memorial Hospital
  • Barnes-Jewish Hospital
  • Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital
  • Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital
  • BJC Behavioral Health
  • BJC Corporate Health Services
  • BJC Home Care
  • BJC Medical Group
  • Boone Hospital Center
  • Christian Hospital
  • Memorial Hospital Belleville
  • Memorial Hospital East
  • Missouri Baptist Medical Center
  • Missouri Baptist Physician Services, LLC
  • Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital
  • Parkland Health Center Boone Terre
  • Parkland Health Center Farmington
  • Progress West Hospital
  • St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Article Topic Follows: Columbia

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Katie Greathouse

Katie Greathouse is the assistant news director for ABC 17 News.

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