Lawsuits are ongoing against Nashville-based HCA Healthcare over a massive data breach that exposed the personal information of nearly 11 million patients.
Two class-action status-seeking lawsuits were filed this week in Tennessee’s Central District alleging the publicly held health system failed to implement basic data security measures. The plaintiffs in both lawsuits allege HCA negligently stored patient information and failed to comply with confidentiality guidelines set forth by the Federal Trade Commission and the Protected Accountability and Information Act. Health Insurance in 1996.
The breach would put those affected at greater risk of identity theft, court filings allege. In addition to monetary damages, a lawsuit seeks to ask HCA to improve its data storage and security infrastructure.
HCA disclosed the data security incident, spanning 171 hospitals and 19 states, on Monday. The data was stolen from external storage used for scheduling and then shared online. Violations include patient name, location of care, contact information, date of birth, gender, and appointment time.
HCA said the exposed data has since been kept secure and offers credit monitoring and identity protection services to anyone affected.
“Our focus now is on our patients and ensuring they have information about the data security incident and the actions taken to take care of them,” a spokesperson said in a statement. an email on Friday. “Our commitment to our patients is unwavering and unaffected by any class action or other legal action. We will respond to any lawsuit or proceeding. , in the appropriate forums and in the usual process.”
The incident was one of the largest reported data breaches since tracking began in 2010, the largest being a breach at health insurer Anthem in 2015 that affected nearly 79 million individuals.
