Practicefirst Notifies Affected Individuals of Data Incident

BUFFALO, N.Y., July 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Professional Business Systems, Inc. d/b/a Practicefirst Medical Management Solutions and PBS Medcode Corp., ("Practicefirst"), a vendor for certain healthcare providers, announced today that it experienced a data incident.

On December 30, 2020, Practicefirst became aware that an unauthorized actor gained access to certain data held in its IT systems in an attempt to deploy ransomware and encrypt data.  In addition to gaining access, the unauthorized actor copied some files from Practicefirst's system, including files that contain patient and employee personal information (the "Incident").  Upon becoming aware, Practicefirst immediately began its investigation into the activity, working quickly to secure their systems and assess the extent of the Incident.

As a result of its investigation, Practicefirst was able to determine that some the files contained employee and patient contact information, such as: name, address, email address, date of birth, driver's license number, social security number, diagnosis, laboratory and treatment information, patient identification number, medication information, health insurance identification and claims information, tax identification number, employee username with password, employee username with security questions and answers, bank account information, and and/or credit/debit card information.

Practicefirst prioritizes the confidentiality, privacy, and security of patient and employee information, and takes this Incident very seriously.  To that end, upon learning of this Incident, Practicefirst moved quickly to investigate and to identify the individuals whose information was potentially impacted, and to implement appropriate measures to further improve the security of its systems and practices.  These measures included, but were not limited to, informing the authorities, reconfiguring access controls, changing passwords, providing additional workforce training, retaining national security experts, and implementing additional security protocols designed to protect its systems and patient and employee information.  Affected individuals and applicable government agencies were also notified.

For additional questions, Practicefirst has established a dedicated assistance line at 855-731-3351 (toll free), Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Eastern Time, except some major U.S. holidays, for any questions about the Incident or health care provider(s) associated with this Incident.

Practicefirst encourages individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review account statements and explanation of benefits forms, and to monitor free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors.  Under U.S. law, individuals are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus.  To obtain a free credit report, individuals may visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228.  Alternatively, affected individuals can contact the three major credit reporting bureaus directly at the addresses below.

Moreover, information regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes, and the steps an individual can take to protect personal information may be obtained by contacting the consumer reporting agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, or the appropriate state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261.  The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them.  Individuals can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by calling 1-877-438-4338.  Individuals should file a police report if they are a victim of identity theft or fraud.  To file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, an individual will likely need to provide some proof that they have been a victim.

SOURCE Practicefirst