TAHOE/TRUCKEE Calif.– Tahoe Forest Hospital District (the “Health System”) said today that it is notifying patients of a data privacy incident that involved the patients’ health information.

On June 26, 2023, the Health System discovered that on June 9, 2023, a company that sends patient billing statements on behalf of the Health System, called MailMyStatements, sent the billing statements of some patients of the Health System to the wrong patients of the Health System. 

The information contained on the misdirected statements may have included the patient’s first name and last name, address, treatment locations, dates of service, description of services, service charges, insurance name, insurance payments and balance, patient payments and balance, invoice number, amount due, and statement date.

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Upon discovering the issue, the Health System initiated an investigation to seek to determine the cause and scope of the incident and to identify the affected patients.  The Health System determined that the cause of the incident was human error.  The Health System has notified affected patients, the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights of the incident.

In addition, the Health System has taken steps and obtained additional assurances from MailMyStatements to help prevent similar incidents in the future.  The Health System has requested that patients who received misdirected statements return or destroy the misdirected statements.

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Although the Health System has no evidence that any information has been misused, individuals should always remain alert by regularly reviewing account statements and monitoring free credit reports, and immediately report to their banks and other financial institutions any suspicious activity involving their accounts.

Health System patients who have questions about the incident may email compliance@tfhd.com for more information.