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TGH Urgent Care warns of potential patient information breach

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Posted at 11:53 AM, Jul 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-27 12:02:20-04

TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track notified 558 patients of a potential breach of unsecured personal patient protected health information after discovering the following event:

On November 6, 2020, TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track became aware that a former employee had possession of the driver’s license and/or credit card information of three patients. TGH believes this former employee took photographs of the driver’s license and/or credit card information of these patients during the intake process when they visited the Seminole location on September 9, 2020. The former employee, a trainee, took advantage of a momentary period of time while working alone at the intake window, the hospital says. Law enforcement is aware of the incident.

Three people were directly affected by the breach by having photographs of their driver’s license and/or credit card information taken. TGH does not believe this former employee maintained possession of the driver’s license or credit card information of any other patients, nor is there evidence that any additional information was inappropriately accessed by this employee. However, out of an abundance of caution, the hospital has notified all individuals whose charts were accessed by this employee between August 3, 2020 and September 9, 2020.

In response to the incident, TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track offered fraud alert and credit monitoring services through SONTIQ, Inc., a company specializing in fraud assistance and remediation services, to affected individuals at no charge. These services provide alerts for twelve months from the date of enrollment when changes occur to an individual’s Experian credit file. They also provided affected individuals with proactive fraud assistance to help with any questions affected individuals might have or in event that they become a victim of fraud. Affected individuals were provided instructions for enrolling in these services.

For those affected individuals choosing not to use SONTIQ, Inc.’s services, TGH urged individuals who wish to place a fraud alert on their own to contact one of the three major credit reporting companies directly.

They also urged affected people to obtain free copies of their credit reports and monitor them upon receipt for any suspicious activity.

Affected individuals should promptly report any suspicious activity to TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track or SONTIQ, Inc.

As a result of this incident, steps are underway to further improve the security of our operations and eliminate future risk, TGH says. In addition to the services of SONTIQ, Inc., immediate enhancements have been made to the systems, security and practices, including training. Additionally, TGH has engaged appropriate experts to assist in conducting a full review of security practices and systems to ensure that enhanced security protocols are in place going forward. The entire staff has been re-educated on the importance of maintaining the privacy and security of all patient information and reporting any suspicious activity.

For guidance with the SONTIQ, Inc. services, affected individuals should call the SONTIQ, Inc. help line 1-800-405-6108 and supply the fraud specialist with the unique code provided in TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track’s correspondence to them. Representatives are available to assist affected individuals from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

All other questions should be directed to Chris Hale-Templeton with TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track by phone at 813-925-1903, or via e-mail at chale@fasttrackurgentcare.com, during normal business hours, Monday through Friday.