West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health fell victim to a cyberattack in February, jeopardizing 16,000 patients' personal information, according to WMTV.
On Feb. 15, UnityPoint Health discovered employees fell victim to a phishing attack that compromised their email accounts. Officials quickly attempted to secure information by changing passwords and bringing in external cyber security professionals.
The personal information potentially exposed includes patients' dates of birth, medical record numbers, treatment information, surgical information, diagnoses, lab results, medications, providers, dates of service and insurance information. In some cases, individuals may have had their Social Security numbers compromised between November 2017 and February 2018.
All affected individuals were sent a letter on April 16 discussing the cyberattack.
"To date, we are not aware of any reports of identity fraud, theft, or improper use of information as a direct result of this incident. However, we want to make impacted individuals aware of the situation so they can take precautionary measures to protect their health information," the letter reads.
UnityPoint Health is taking steps to prevent a similar event from occurring in the future.