Posted On July 11, 2022 Consumer Privacy & Data Breaches
July 11, 2022 – Recently, Charlotte Radiology posted notice of a data breach on its website. Evidently, the breach resulted in certain patients’ names, Social Security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, health insurance information, medical record number, patient account numbers, physician names, dates of service, and diagnosis and treatment information. Charlotte Radiology has not yet filed official notice of the breach with the state or federal governments; thus, we do not yet know how many patients were impacted by the incident.
If you received a data breach notification, it is essential you understand what is at risk. The data breach lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. are actively investigating the Charlotte Radiology data breach on behalf of people whose information was exposed. As a part of this investigation, we are providing free consultations to anyone affected by the breach who is interested in learning more about the risks of identity theft, what they can do to protect themselves, and what their legal options may be to obtain compensation from Charlotte Radiology.
According to the “Notice of IT Security Incident Affecting Certain Patients” posted on the Charlotte Radiology website, the company detected a network security issue on December 24, 2021. In response, Charlotte Radiology secured its systems, notified law enforcement, and began an investigation with the assistance of a cyber security forensic firm.
Charlotte Radiology reports that “within days,” it was able to contain the incident. However, the company also notes that during the period between December 17, 2021 and December 24, 2021, an unauthorized party gained access to the Charlotte Radiology system. The company confirmed that the unauthorized party was able to access and remove certain files containing sensitive patient information.
Upon discovering that an unauthorized party had access to and removed sensitive patient data, Charlotte Radiology then reviewed all affected files to determine what information was compromised and which patients were impacted. While the breached information varies depending on the individual, it may include your full name, address, date of birth, health insurance information, medical record number, patient account number, physician name, dates of service, and diagnosis and treatment information.
Charlotte Radiology also indicated that the breach impacted patient data from a related practice, Carolinas Imaging Services, LLC. Evidently, Charlotte Radiology supervises and manages the operations of Carolinas Imaging Services. Carolinas Imaging Services provides imaging services in Charlotte, Rock Hill and Huntersville. On April 25, 2022, Charlotte Radiology notified Carolinas Imaging Services that the data security incident impacted certain Carolinas Imaging Services patients.
Based on the nature of the information leaked in the breach, Charlotte Radiology is advising all patients to review their health insurance statements for unauthorized charges.
Around June 2022, Charlotte Radiology sent out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident.
Founded in 1967, Charlotte Radiology is a practice group of radiologists based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte Radiology operates 16 breast centers, a mobile breast center program, two vein centers and several vascular and interventional radiology sites. The company also jointly owns five free-standing imaging centers. Each year, Charlotte Radiology performs more than 1.5 million imaging studies annually for 18 hospitals. Charlotte Radiology employs more than 500 people and generates approximately $34 million in annual revenue.
At Console & Associates, P.C., our consumer privacy lawyers monitor all security and data breaches to help affected consumers pursue their legal remedies. We offer free consultations to victims of data breaches and can explain your rights in clear, understandable terms so you can make an informed decision about how to proceed with your case. If you’ve been affected by the Charlotte Radiology data breach or any other data security incident, Console & Associates, P.C., will investigate your case at no charge and offer you thorough advice about how to most effectively proceed with your case. If you decide to bring a case, we only get paid if you do. If your claim is successful, any legal fees are either paid by the defendant or come out of the funds recovered from the defendant. If your claim doesn’t result in a recovery, you will pay nothing.
To schedule your free consultation, just call (866) 778-5500 today or fill out our secure contact form.
Below is a copy of the initial data breach letter issued by Charlotte Radiology (the actual notice sent to consumers can be found here):
Dear [Redacted],
Charlotte Radiology recently experienced an incident that involved certain patients’ information. While there is no evidence that this incident resulted in fraud or misuse of the information involved, we are directly notifying impacted individuals and providing information about the incident and steps they can take. On December 24, 2021, we identified a security incident that impacted systems that contained our patient information. We immediately initiated our incident response process, notified law enforcement, and began an investigation with the assistance of a forensic firm. Within days, we were able to quickly contain the incident and resume serving patients. The investigation subsequently determined that between December 17 and December 24, 2021, an unauthorized party gained access to our network and took copies of some of the documents on our system.
The documents contained some patients’ information, including patient names and one or more of the following: address, date of birth, health insurance information, medical record number, patient account number, physician name, date(s) of service, diagnosis and/or treatment information related to radiology services. For a very limited number of patients, Social Security numbers were contained in the documents involved. We are offering complimentary credit monitoring to those individuals.
In addition to caring for its own patients, Charlotte Radiology supervises and manages the operations of Carolinas Imaging Services, LLC (CIS), which provides imaging services in Charlotte, Rock Hill and Huntersville. On April 25, 2022, Charlotte Radiology notified CIS that this security incident impacted certain CIS patients.
We recommend that patients review the statements they receive from their health insurer. If you see charges for services you did not receive, please call the insurer immediately.
We have also set up a dedicated call center to answer questions about this incident. Patients with questions may call the call center at 1-855-604-1852, Monday through Friday between 9 AM – 9 PM Eastern Time.
Charlotte Radiology takes seriously the confidentiality and security of our patients’ information. We continue to implement enhancements to information security, systems, and monitoring capabilities, and are committed to providing the best care for our patients.
