Mass General Brigham fires three employees over ‘data privacy incident’ – NBC Boston

Three employees at Massachusetts’ largest health care system have been fired over a “data privacy incident” involving patients’ personal information.

Mass General Brigham said in a news release Friday that it learned earlier this year that unauthorized access may have been granted to some patients’ and policyholders’ data. The hospital system said it had notified certain Massachusetts residents of the incident.

Potentially affected individuals include patients at Mass General Brigham facilities. Data affected includes names, addresses, medical records, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, health insurance numbers, clinical visit information, social security numbers, and credit card numbers.

“Some of this information for MGB may have related to guarantors. A guarantor is the person who pays the bill for health services,” the health system said.

People insured with the Mass General Brigham Health Plan could also be affected: names, addresses, medical records, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, health insurance plan numbers and clinical information are at risk.

The health system said it discovered between April 2 and April 4 that the data “may have been accessible to unauthorized individuals unaffiliated with MGBHP and MGB.” An investigation was launched and concluded on May 28.

The organization found that one Mass General Brigham Health Plan employee “may have allowed an unauthorized person to perform some of his duties and view personal information on MGBHP members between July 31, 2023, and April 2, 2024.” It also found that two Mass General Brigham employees “may have allowed an unauthorized person to perform some of his duties and view personal information on MGB patients between February 26, 2024, and April 4, 2024.”

The employees were “terminated immediately,” the health insurance company said.

People whose information is affected will receive a notification letter, according to the organization.

“MGBHP and MGB are fully committed to protecting the information entrusted to them and sincerely regret that this incident occurred,” the press release said.

Anyone with questions is asked to call Mass General Brigham Health Plan at 1-888-268-7164 or Mass General Brigham at 1-888-826-9548 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.