About 900 Grady EMS ambulance service patients are being notified that their personal information may have been stolen by a former data company employee.
A worker at Advanced Data Processing Inc. (ADPI), which handles billing for Grady EMS, illegally accessed the company’s billing system and stole personal information of thousands of ambulance service patients nationwide, according to Grady Health System. The information may include names, social security numbers and dates of birth in some cases, but no medical information was accessed, the data company said in a statement.
Some of the information was disclosed to a theft ring suspected of filing fraudulent federal tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. The employee has been fired.
“The company is working closely with federal and local law enforcement agencies who are conducting a criminal investigation,” the statement said.
The data breach took place from Jan. 15 to Oct. 12, according to Grady. Law enforcement is working to determine if any of the Grady EMS patient information has been used illegally.
“Grady Health System is committed to protecting the confidential information of our patients and is working closely with ADPI to prevent future breaches,” a Grady spokeswoman said in a statement.
The data company, Grady said, will provide all patients affected with a year of free credit monitoring to ensure their personal information is not used improperly. Grady is also assisting patients as needed.
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