Baptist Health’s West Kendall Baptist Hospital in Miami, FL discovered that a former employee stole the credit card information of patients then used the details for fraudulent purchases. Baptist Health found out about the misuse of credit cards on March 9, 2018. The issue was reported to Miami-Dade law enforcement resulting in the employee’s termination.
There’s no confirmed report yet on the exact number of patients that have been defrauded by the former employee. But the hospital sent breach notification letters to 1,480 patients to warn them of the possibility of misuse of their credit card.
Patients who came for medical services and used their credit card for payment or went through the registration employee from August 2014 to March 2018 had their information including names, birth dates and credit card details potentially stolen and misused. As a safety precaution, Baptist Health offered all 1,480 patients free one year identity theft protection and credit monitoring services. The patients were also advised to inspect their credit card statements for possible unauthorized transactions.
To prevent the occurrence of similar incidents, Baptist Health also looked at what they can do to secure patients’ protected health information.