DALLAS _ Certain patients who sought treatment at 18 hospitals in Texas Health Resources' hospital system over the summer may have had their medical bills sent to the wrong person, Texas Health announced this week.
The system described the incident as a "billing misconfiguration" affecting patients who visited its wholly owned hospitals and four joint ventures between approximately July 19 and Sept. 4. The hospital system claims it first learned of the misconfiguration on Aug. 23 and "immediately took steps" to correct the issue and begin an investigation.
"To help prevent something like from happening in the future, in addition to correcting this particular misconfiguration error, Texas Health is taking steps to further enhance the organization's data security procedures," Texas Health said in a statement.
Among the information that could have been sent to the wrong people was patients' name, account number, service date, the name of treating physicians, the name of health insurers, amount owed, and, in some instances, a short description of services rendered, according to Texas Health.
The hospital system said it has "no indication" that any patient information has been misused, and added that social security numbers, health insurance identification numbers and financial information were not affected by the misconfiguration.
Texas Health is mailing letters to patients whose information may have been impacted by the incident, and is encouraging patients to review the statements they've received from health care providers and contact the provider immediately if statements list services the patient didn't receive.
Hospitals affected
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas
Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst Euless Bedford
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Kaufman
Texas Health Specialty Hospital Fort Worth
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Rockwall
Texas Health Center for Diagnostics and Surgery Plano
Texas Health Heart and Vascular Hospital Arlington
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southlake
