Recently, Montrose Regional Health posted a notice on its website indicating that certain patients’ personal and sensitive information was compromised as a result of unauthorized activity on an employee’s email account. If you received a data breach notification, it is essential you understand what is at risk.

If you received a data breach notification, it is essential you understand what is at risk. More about our investigation into this breach, and what you can do if your data was stolen, is available here.

Last year, 1,862 data breaches affected more than 189 million people. On average, victims of identity theft spend 200 hours and over $1,300 recovering their identity. Many victims also suffer emotional distress, credit damage, and may even end up with a criminal record. Taking immediate action is the best way to prevent the worst consequences of a data breach.

What We Know So Far About the Montrose Regional Health Data Breach

Montrose Regional Health is a healthcare network that operates multiple facilities in and around Montrose, Colorado. The company provides a range of services across 23 different practice areas, including women’s health, cardiology, emergency care, intensive care, joint replacement, medical imaging, cancer treatment and respiratory care. MRH is comprised of nine different treatment centers.

According to a “Notice of Data Incident” post on the company’s website, Montrose Regional Health recently detected suspicious activity on one of its employee’s email accounts. In response to this discovery, the company initiated an investigation to determine the nature and extent of the incident, as well as if any patient information was accessible to the unauthorized party. The investigation revealed that between August 2, 2021 and October 26, 2021, the unauthorized party gained access to certain files containing patients’ protected health information.

Upon learning of the extent of the security breach, Montrose Regional Health then reviewed the affected files to determine what information was compromised. The company completed this review on February 25, 2022. While the compromised information varies based on the patient, it may include a patient’s full name, inpatient/outpatient status, internal patient account number, service date, treatment cost, procedure code, provider name, and health insurance provider.

On or around February 25, 2022, Montrose Regional Health began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident. The company sent notices to as many as 52,632 patients.

More About the Causes and Risks of Data Breaches

Often, data breaches are the result of a hacker gaining unauthorized access to a company’s computer systems with the intention of obtaining sensitive consumer information. While no one can know the reason why a hacker targeted MRH, it is common for hackers and other criminals to identify those companies believed to have weak data security systems or vulnerabilities in their networks.

Once a cybercriminal gains access to a computer network, they can then access and remove any data stored on the compromised servers. While in most cases a company experiencing a data breach can identify which files were accessible, there may be no way for the company to tell which files the hacker actually accessed or whether they removed any data.

While the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach does not necessarily mean it will be used for criminal purposes, being the victim of a data breach puts your sensitive data in the hands of an unauthorized person. As a result, you are at an increased risk of identity theft and other frauds, and criminal use of your information is a possibility that should not be ignored.

Given this reality, individuals who receive a Montrose Regional Health data breach notification should take the situation seriously and remain vigilant in checking for any signs of unauthorized activity. Businesses like MRH are responsible for protecting the consumer data in their possession. If evidence emerges that MRH failed to adequately protect your sensitive information, you may be eligible for financial compensation through a data breach lawsuit.

What Are Consumers’ Remedies in the Wake of the MRH Data Breach?

When you decided to seek treatment at MRH, they assumed that the company would take their privacy concerns seriously. And it goes without saying that consumers would think twice before giving a company access to their information if they knew it wasn’t going to be secure. Thus, data breaches such as this one raise questions about the adequacy of a company’s data security system.

When a business, government entity, non-profit organization, school, or any other organization accepts and stores consumer data, it also accepts a legal obligation to ensure this information remains private. The United States data breach laws allow consumers to pursue civil data breach claims against organizations that fail to protect their information.

Of course, given the recency of the Montrose Regional Health data breach, the investigation into the incident is still in its early stages. And, as of right now, there is not yet any evidence suggesting MRH is legally responsible for the breach. However, that could change as additional information about the breach and its causes is revealed.

If you have questions about your ability to bring a data breach class action lawsuit against Montrose Regional Health, reach out to a data breach attorney as soon as possible.

What Should You Do if You Receive a Montrose Regional Health Data Breach Notification?

If Montrose Regional Health sends you a data breach notification letter, you are among those whose information was compromised in the recent breach. While this isn’t a time to panic, the situation warrants your attention. Below are a few important steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft and other fraudulent activity:

1. Identify What Information Was Compromised: The first thing to do after learning of a data breach is to carefully review the data breach letter sent. The letter will tell you what information of yours was accessible to the unauthorized party. Be sure to make a copy of the letter and keep it for your records. If you have trouble understanding the letter or what steps you can take to protect yourself, a data breach lawyer can help.

2. Limit Future Access to Your Accounts: Once you determine what information of yours was affected by the breach, the safest play is to assume that the hacker orchestrating the attack stole your data. While this may not be the case, it’s better to be safe than sorry. To prevent future access to your accounts, you should change all passwords and security questions for any online account. This includes online banking accounts, credit card accounts, online shopping accounts, and any other account containing your personal information. You should also consider changing your social media account passwords and setting up multi-factor authentication where it is available.

3. Protect Your Credit and Your Financial Accounts: After a data breach, companies often provide affected parties with free credit monitoring services. Signing up for the free credit monitoring offers some significant protections and doesn’t impact any of your rights to pursue a data breach lawsuit against the company if it turns out they were legally responsible for the breach. You should contact a credit bureau to request a copy of your credit report—even if you do not notice any signs of fraud or unauthorized activity. Adding a fraud alert to your account will provide you with additional protection.

4. Consider Implementing a Credit Freeze: A credit freeze prevents anyone from accessing your credit report. Credit freezes are free and stay in effect until you remove them. Once a credit freeze is in place, you can temporarily lift the freeze if you need to apply for any type of credit. While placing a credit freeze on your accounts may seem like overkill, given the risks involved, it’s justified. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (“ITRC”), placing a credit freeze on your account is the “single most effective way to prevent a new credit/financial account from being opened.” However, just 3% of data breach victims place a freeze on their accounts.

5. Regularly Monitor Your Credit Report and Financial Accounts: Protecting yourself in the wake of a data breach requires an ongoing effort on your part. You should regularly check your credit report and all financial account statements, looking for any signs of unauthorized activity or fraud. You should also call your banks and credit card companies to report the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach.

Below is a copy of the “Notice of Data Incident” posted on the Montrose Regional Health website:

Dear [Consumer],

Montrose Regional Health discovered unusual activity in an employee’s email account and immediately began an investigation, which included working with third-party specialists to determine the nature and scope of the activity. The investigation determined there was unauthorized access to certain employee email accounts between August 2, 2021 and October 26, 2021. The investigation was unable to confirm if specific information within the email accounts was accessed. Because we take the privacy of information seriously, we are providing notice of this incident in an abundance of caution.

On February 25, 2022, we determined that the email accounts may have contained certain patient information, including names and one or more of the following: inpatient/outpatient status, internal patient account number, service date, treatment cost, procedure code, provider name, and/or health insurance provider.

Upon discovering this incident, we reset account passwords and are reviewing our policies and procedures. To obtain more information about this incident, individuals can contact our dedicated assistance line at 877-621-2423, Monday through Friday (except U.S. holidays), from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. MST. Individuals may also write to us at 800 S. 3rd Street, Montrose, CO 81401, ATTN Quality Department.

Although we have no evidence of misuse of information, we encourage potentially impacted individuals to remain vigilant by reviewing account statements and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Under U.S. law, individuals are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.

Individuals have the right to place an initial or extended “fraud alert” on a credit file at no cost. If individuals are a victim of identity theft, they are entitled to an extended fraud alert lasting seven years. As an alternative to a fraud alert, they have the right to place a “credit freeze” on a credit report. The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved without consent. Pursuant to federal law, individuals cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on your credit report.

Should individuals wish to place a fraud alert or credit freeze, please contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below:

Individuals can further educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps to protect their personal information by contacting the credit reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or their state Attorney General. The FTC also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. The FTC may be reached at 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement, the state Attorney General, and the FTC.