Medical Transcription Hack Affects 1.2 Million Chicagoans

A major healthcare provider in Chicago that targets underserved populations is notifying as many as 1.2 million patients that their information was compromised in a data theft incident at a medical transcription vendor.

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Cook County Health, which operates two public hospitals and more than a dozen community healthcare clinics in Illinois, said it has terminated its relationship with the vendor and that it is among “many” other healthcare organizations affected by the incident.

A breach notice says the hack affected systems of Perry Johnson & Associates, the third-party transcription vendor, where “some” of the hospital system’s patient information was stored.

The data includes names, birthdates, addresses, medical information, and the dates and times of service. Approximately 2,600 of those patient records may also have included Social Security numbers, CCH said.

“CCH is one of many organizations impacted by the PJ&A data security incident. No CCH systems or servers were accessed during this incident,” CCH said. “Upon learning of the data security incident, CCH stopped sharing data with PJ&A, and terminated its relationship with PJ&A,” the county health system said.

The transcription vendor is working with…