FRUITLAND, Idaho, January 7, 2022 / PRNewswire / – Heart ‘n Home Hospice announced today that it is sending letters to patients whose information may have been involved in an email phishing incident.

At November 9, 2021, Heart ‘n Home Hospice has determined that an email phishing incident may have resulted in unauthorized access to emails and attachments with patient information in a Heart employee’s email account ‘n Home Hospice. Heart ‘n Home Hospice first became aware of the incident when it was told that suspicious emails had been sent from the email account of a Heart’ n Home Hospice employee without their knowledge. Upon learning of this, Heart ‘n Home Hospice secured the account and launched an investigation. The Heart ‘n Home Hospice investigation determined that an unauthorized party accessed the email account of a Heart’ n Home Hospice employee between 12 October 2021, and October 14, 2021.

According to the investigation, the likely purpose of the unauthorized access to the email account was to carry out an email phishing scheme, not to gain access to personal information. That said, Heart ‘n Home Hospice cannot rule out the possibility that emails and attachments in the employee’s email account were viewed or viewed as a result of this incident.

So, as a precaution, Heart ‘n Home Hospice performed a full search of the contents of the employee’s email account. Through this research, Heart ‘n Home Hospice determined that emails or attachments from the employee’s email account that may have been the subject of unauthorized access contained information relating to certain patients, including names, dates of birth, social security numbers and / or information regarding the care they received at Heart ‘n Home Hospice.

At January 7, 2022, Heart ‘n Home Hospice has started sending letters to people whose information may have been involved in the incident. Heart ‘n Home Hospice has also set up a dedicated toll-free incident response line to answer any questions individuals may have. If anyone has any questions, they should call 1-888-603-2204, Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Heart ‘n Home Hospice recommends that notified individuals review the statements they receive from their health care providers and health insurance plan. If they see any services that were not received, they should contact the provider or health plan immediately. Heart ‘n Home Hospice also reminds those notified to remain vigilant to the possibility of fraud when reviewing their financial statements for any unauthorized activity. If they identify unauthorized activity, they should immediately contact their financial institution.

Heart ‘n Home Hospice deeply regrets any inconvenience or concern this may cause to its patients and their families. To prevent such a situation from reoccurring, Heart ‘n Home Hospice has implemented additional technical protection and security measures.

SOURCE Heart ‘n Home Hospice