Kootenai Health reports massive data breach affecting 464,088 individuals
Kootenai Health, a healthcare provider in Idaho, filed a report with HHS OCR on April 24, 2024, disclosing a significant hacking/IT incident. The breach compromised the protected health information of 464,088 individuals. The unauthorized access occurred on a network server. As a covered entity, Kootenai Health is required to notify affected individuals and report the incident to the government. Healthcare administrators should note the scale of this incident as a reminder of the risks associated with network server vulnerabilities. While this specific filing does not detail the exact nature of the data accessed, the volume of affected records highlights the potential impact of IT security failures on large provider organizations.
Sources differ:
- The HHS OCR breach filing lists 464,088 individuals affected; Bloomberg Law's coverage of the related class-action lawsuit and law firm investigation notices describe the breach as affecting 'more than 480,000' individuals.