Thieves Steal 12,000 Patient Records From Beverly Medical Office

BEVERLY, MA — A Beverly healthcare provider notified patients this week that 12,000 confidential patient records had been stolen on April 16.

North Shore Pain Management said the hackers had accessed its system on April16 and gotten access to records that include names, dates of birth, social security numbers, health insurance information and, in some cases, payment and credit card information. The company discovered the breach on April 21.

"We want to assure you that we take this incident very seriously. We recommend that you review any statements that you receive from your health insurer or healthcare providers," North Shore Pain Management said in a note to patients. "If you see services that you did not receive, please contact the insurer or provider immediately. We also recommend that you review your financial account statements, and immediately notify your financial institution if you see any suspicious activity."

The records stolen were for patients who paid, or whose insurance paid, North Shore Pain Management or North Shore Anesthesia between Aug. 1, 2014 and April 16 of this year.

North Shore Pain Management said it is working with the FBI, Secret Service, and privacy professionals to investigate the April breach. The company is offering credit monitoring services to the victims of the theft and has set up a dedicated call center to handle questions. The call center can be reached Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. by calling 833-579-1112.

Dave Copeland covers Beverly and other North Shore communities for Patch. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).