ORLANDO, Fla. — A lawsuit was filed Wednesday, two days after Quest Diagnostics said millions of patients' personal and medical information might have been exposed in a breach of one of the billing collection firms with which it works.
The billing collections service provider, American Medical Collection Agency, informed Quest Diagnostics of a potential data hack on May 14 that could have affected about 11.9 million patients.
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John Yanchunis, of Morgan and Morgan, provided Channel 9 with the following statement about the firm's class-action lawsuit against Quest Diagnostics:
"Healthcare companies are especially susceptible to data breaches not only because they aggregate a tremendous amount of important and sensitive data, but also because they tend to be less focused on cyber security protection than other industries. These companies, like Quest Diagnostics, know they are at an increased risk and yet have not taken the proper steps to protect their patients’ data. We will fight for justice on behalf of those impacted by this breach."
Quest Diagnostics said Monday that AMCA believes the information includes personal information, including certain financial data, Social Security numbers and medical information, but not laboratory test results.
The company said AMCA has not provided it with detailed information about the security breach, which would include which specific patients might have been affected.
"Quest is taking this matter very seriously and is committed to the privacy and security of our patients’ personal information," the company said Monday. “Since learning of the AMCA data security incident, we have suspended sending collection requests to AMCA."
The company said it will ensure patients are appropriately notified.
"We are committed to keeping our patients, health care providers and all relevant parties informed as we learn more," the company said in a news release.
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