Statement From Crouse Health Regarding PJ&A Data Breach

Perry Johnson & Associates (PJ&A), a medical transcription service assisting providers across the U.S., has experienced a data breach as a result of a hacking incident in its own systems. At least 4 million New Yorkers have been impacted by the data breach, including some (but not all) Crouse Health patients.

There was no compromise of Crouse’s own systems. This incident occurred in PJ&A’s environment only.

The PJ&A files that were accessed by the unauthorized third party contained information about certain Crouse patients that may have included: first and last name, date of birth, address, sex, phone number, medical record number, health insurance information, dates of admission and discharge, attending physician identifiers, hospital room number, and visit type. For a small fraction of the patients whose data was accessed (<10%), it may also have included a transcript of care dictated by the patient’s physician, and/or the patient’s Social Security number. PJ&A already has sent letters out to every Crouse patient whose data was part of the breach, except for a small number for whom accurate mailing addresses could not be identified.

To date, PJ&A is not aware of any evidence that this data has been misused for any fraudulent purpose such as identity theft. Nonetheless, individuals whose information may have been involved are encouraged to review the notification they receive, including guidance on what they can do to protect themselves, should they feel it is appropriate to do so. It is always good practice to regularly review your financial accounts and report any suspicious or unrecognized activity immediately.

More information about the incident can be found here: https://www.pjats.com/downloads/Notice.pdf

The privacy and security of your patient information is of the utmost importance to Crouse Health and to PJ&A. We sincerely regret that this breach occurred and any concern that it may cause you.

Should you have any questions regarding the incident, please do not hesitate to contact PJ&A at (833) 200-3558, which is available Monday through Friday, from 8:00am to 11:59pm eastern time.