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Community Health Systems, which operates 206 hospitals in 29 states including Santa Rosa Medical Center in Milton and North Okaloosa Medical Center in Crestview were the victims of a cyber-attack believed to be based out of China. The hospitals were not compromised. However, the physician network affiliated with the hospitals was exposed to what is believed to be the “Heartbleed” internet bug. According to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Form 8-K filed on August 18, the records of approximately 4.5 million individuals within the Community Health System physician network who in the last five years were referred for or received services from affiliated physicians were affected. The data taken includes patients’ names, addresses, birthdates, social security numbers, and, in some cases, telephone numbers, and the names of employers or guarantors. Community Health System stated that the data did not include patient credit card, medical or clinical information; the data is, however, considered protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Santa Rosa Medical Center became part of Community Health Systems in January of 2014.
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