Important announcement from The Spine Diagnostic & Pain Treatment Center
November 17, 2023
The Spine Diagnostic Center of BR, Inc.
The Spine Diagnostic Center of BR, Inc. (the “Center”) is issuing this notice in keeping with its commitment to protect the privacy and security of our patients’ confidential information. This notice is to all patients who received services from the Center prior to January 25, 2022. We take protection of all patients’ information seriously, and it is important to us that our patients are made aware of any potential privacy issue that may have affected their private information.
What Happened – On January 27, 2022, the Center learned of a cyberattack against its electronic database, when files on a server were encrypted. Immediately after discovering the incident, the Center took steps to secure and safely restore its systems and operations. The attack resulted in the encryption of the electronic files, making some information temporarily inaccessible and out of the Center’s control. The attack was resolved and access to the electronic files returned. We are publishing this notice in an abundance of caution.
Type Of Information Involved – We have no evidence, based on the investigation conducted thus far, to believe that the Center’s electronic health record system or billing system were accessed or viewed. Nevertheless, because we are aware that some patient information was encrypted, we recommend that you monitor your credit history, medical claims history, and any other sources of information that may alert you to any suspicious activity. However, if you do not receive a separate letter from the Center in the mail, we do not have reason to believe your personal information was impacted by the attack.
Steps Taken By The Center – The Center is committed to securing its patients’ information. The Center has taken numerous measures to install additional electronic safeguards and provide additional employee education to attempt to prevent an attack in the future. We have also retained cybersecurity experts to assist us with ongoing monitoring of our technology infrastructure.
What You Can Do – Checking your credit reports periodically can help you spot and address problems quickly. If you find suspicious activity from any source, we recommend that you report it to your financial institutions, your local police or sheriff’s office, the Federal Trade Commission and the Louisiana Attorney General’s office. You can contact one of the three U.S. credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to obtain a free credit report and to place a fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert lets creditors know to contact you before opening any new accounts or changing current accounts. These agencies can be contacted by logging on to http://www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228. These agencies can also provide information about placing a security freeze on your credit files. By placing a freeze, someone who fraudulently obtains your personal information will not be able to use that information to open new accounts or borrow money in your name. You may also contact the agencies individually using the following information:
Equifax, PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374, www.equifax.com, (888) 685-1111
Experian, PO Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013, www.experian.com, (888) 397-3742
TransUnion, PO Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016, www.transunion.com, (800) 916-8800
Contact information for the Federal Trade Commission is as follows:
Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338), www.ftc.gov/idtheft
For More Information – Should you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Rhonda Lawrence via phone 225-767-2424 Ext 1601 or via email [email protected]. Additional information may be made available online at https://www.spinediagnostic.com.
We are sorry this incident occurred. Unfortunately, cyberattacks are increasing at an alarming rate and no organization is completely immune from such criminal activity despite all of the security initiatives taken to prevent such attacks. Please know that security of your information remains a top priority of the Center. We have taken and will continue to take steps to maximize our security, minimize the impact of this attack, and prevent a reoccurrence in the future.
