By: Ana Altchek, Follow South Jersey Contributing Writer
SOUTH JERSEY — The New Jersey Department of Health released a press release on August 19 notifying residents about a network security incident that occurred at hospitals in the state.
The announcement came after an investigation that was launched due to an incident that occurred nearly two months ago. Trenton Pyschiatric Hospital and Ann Klein Forensic Center received a notification about an alleged incident experienced by a third-party vendor they used.
The vendor works to provide medical translation and dictation services to New Jersey’s State psychiatric hospitals. In response to the alert and in addition to other concerns that were left unspecified in the release, the hospitals immediately launched an investigation to address and resolve the incident.
The investigation allegedly revealed that an unauthorized individual gained limited access to the vendor’s system and obtained limited protected health records of certain current and former patients of the hospitals. The press release is unclear about how those individuals were affected and whether or not the culprit of the leak was an individual or part of a larger scheme.
The NJ Department of Health expressed their condolensces and apologized for any inconcenience that the leak caused. The Hospital will notify those who may have been affected by the incident through letter by mail.
Additionally, any past or present patients of the hospital who suspect they may have been personally impacted, can contact a confidential call center to determine if they were affected. Any questions relating to the incident can be directed to the specifically established call center at 1-800-405-6108 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
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