Viva Health, under the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System, said it is investigating a data breach involving 4,945 individuals’ data, according to a news release from Sept. 26 shared with Becker’s.
The insurer found a file on its website containing limited protected health information on Aug. 27. The file was available starting June 14. The issue was reported to federal and state regulators, and the file was taken down. There has been no evidence of this data being misused, though it could have been accessed by unauthorized parties.
The released data included Medicare beneficiary identifiers, residence counties, member ID and group numbers, authorization numbers and general information on prior authorization requests. No names, Social Security numbers, addresses or financial information were in the file.
“Viva Health has strengthened its internal processes and security safeguards to prevent similar incidents in the future,” the release added.
Viva Health notified affected members and advised them on precautions to take.
