UT Health cyberattack privacy risks

TYLER – Months after a cyberattack on UT Health East Texas, their parent company is warning patients their personal information may have been compromised. The ransomware attack from Nov. 23 prompted the parent company, Ardent Health Services, to notify law enforcement and launch an investigation with the help of an outside cybersecurity firm. Though the attack did not disrupt patient care, many hospital systems went offline, with Ardent saying at the time they could not confirm the extent to which patient health or financial data was compromised.

On Tuesday, Ardent said the hackers may have accessed, viewed or removed documents with the following information:

Patient contact information (addresses, phone numbers, email addresses)
Social Security numbers
Medical treatment information (providers, dates of service, diagnoses, prescriptions)
Health insurance and claims information
Medicaid/Medicare numbers

“At this time, Ardent has no indication that this information has been misused,” the company said.
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Ardent has started mailing letters to people who may have had their information compromised, and they are planning to continue to identify more impacted individuals and mail them letters as well.

Everyone whose personal information was impacted is eligible to enroll in credit monitoring and fraud protection services for one year through TransUnion at no cost.

Additionally, Ardent set up a toll-free call center for people with questions about the incident. You can call 1-833-961-7634 Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT.