Indiana Hospital System Notifying Patients After Data Breach

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A northwestern Indiana hospital system is warning more than 68,000 patients that their personal information, including Social Security numbers and health records, may have been exposed during a data breach.

The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported Wednesday that Methodist Hospitals has been mailing letters to patients detailing the steps they can take to safeguard themselves against possible fraud.

Methodist, which has campuses in Gary and Merrillville, says in a news release that it was alerted about questionable activity on a staffer's email account in June and that it learned in August that two employees had fallen victim to an email phishing scam in which an unauthorized user got access to their accounts.

The hospital system says it has no proof that patient information was accessed, but it could not rule out the prospect.