Ruben U. Carvajal, MD Provides Notice to Individuals of Data Security Event

BRONX, N.Y., July 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ruben U. Carvajal, MD recently discovered an incident that may impact certain Ruben U. Carvajal, MD patient information. 

On January 3, 2018, Dr. Carvajal received a report that certain Ruben U. Carvajal, MD patient information may have been accessible on the internet.  Upon receiving this report, Dr. Carvajal initiated an internal investigation and contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the New York Police Department (NYPD).  On January 18, 2018, the FBI came to his office and examined his computer. On February 13, 2018, the FBI told Dr. Carvajal that his electronic medical records ("EMR") program had been subject to unauthorized access.  Dr. Carvajal is also working with a forensic investigator to determine the full nature and scope of the incident.  Through this investigation, on May 22, 2018, Dr. Carvajal determined that there was unauthorized access to his computer between December 16, 2017 and January 3, 2018.  While the investigation was unable to confirm whether the EMR program was subject to unauthorized access, it would have been accessible to anyone who accessed his computer.

After conducting a comprehensive forensic investigation into the incident and reviewing his EMR program, Dr. Carvajal recently confirmed that the following types of patient information were accessible to the unauthorized actor: name, address, date of birth, medical history, diagnosis/conditions, lab/test results, treatment information, medications, health insurance information, and/or claims information.  In addition, if patients receive Medicare, their Medicare ID which is also their Social Security number may have been subject to unauthorized access. 

On or about July 17, 2018, Dr. Carvajal began mailing notification letters to the potentially impacted patients for whom Dr. Carvajal had address information, and is offering affected individuals complimentary access to credit monitoring and identity protection services.  In addition to working with law enforcement and a third-party forensic investigator to conduct an investigation, Dr. Carvajal is working to take additional steps to strengthen the security of his systems. 

Dr. Carvajal encourages potentially impacted individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review account statements, and to monitor their credit reports and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity. Dr. Carvajal is providing potentially impacted individuals with contact information for the three major credit reporting agencies, as well as providing advice on how to obtain free credit reports and how to place fraud alerts and security freezes on their credit files.  The relevant contact information is below:

Potentially impacted individuals may also find information regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes and the steps they may take to protect their information by contacting the credit bureaus, and the Federal Trade Commission.  The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. 

Dr. Carvajal has set up a call center to answer questions from those who might be impacted by this incident.  Anyone with additional questions about the incident, including whether you are affected, may contact the call center at 1-855-682-4281 (toll-free), Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. EDT. 

Dr. Carvajal values his patients' privacy and security and deeply regrets any concern or inconvenience this incident may cause.

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SOURCE Ruben U. Carvajal, MD