Billing statements containing the personal health information of more than 1,500 of Advocate Aurora Health’s Illinois patients were mailed out but never arrived at their destination, health system officials said.
Patients have been notified and have been offered free credit monitoring, Advocate said.
The statements in question were put in the mail around July 29 and included information for 1,661 patients, including patient names, types and dates of services received, the provider visited and visit account numbers.
The error, discovered around Oct. 29, was caused by an accidental change to an account type in the health system’s billing software, according to Advocate. The health system was not aware the patient information had been intercepted or misused as a result of the mailing, but said it was taking steps to improve technology and internal processes.
Advocate Aurora has 26 hospitals and more than 500 care sites in Illinois and Wisconsin.
