On June 2, 2023, Elgon Information Systems (“Elgon”), which does business under the name HomecareGPS, filed a notice of data breach with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“HHS-OCR”) after learning that confidential consumer information entrusted to the company was subject to unauthorized access. Based on the company’s official filing with the HHS-OCR, the incident likely resulted in an unauthorized party gaining access to consumers’ protected health information. After confirming that consumer data was leaked, Elgon began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals who were impacted by the recent data security incident.

If you received a data breach notification from Elgon Information Systems or HomecareGPS, it is essential you understand what is at risk and what you can do about it. While the investigation into the HomecareGPS / Elgon Information Systems data breach is ongoing, that shouldn’t prevent victims from taking the steps necessary to protect themselves and their information. To learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft and what your legal options are in the wake of the HomecareGPS data breach, please see our recent piece on the topic here.

What We Know So Far About the Elgon Information Systems Breach

News of the HomecareGPS data breach is still fresh; however, what we know at this point comes from the company’s filing with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. However, the information provided on the HHS-OCR website is limited. Thus, all that can be gleaned from the site is that the breach involved a “hacking/IT incident.” Based on the HHS-OCR filing, the Elgon Information Systems data breach affected 31,248 individuals.

Upon discovering that sensitive consumer data was made available to an unauthorized party, HomecareGPS began to review the affected files to determine what information was compromised and which consumers were impacted. While HomecareGPS has not yet publicly released the data types that were compromised, the company filed notice of the breach with HHS-OCR, which means that the incident likely involved the protected health information of affected parties.

Protected health information (“PHI”) is any identifying information collected by healthcare providers during the course of treating a patient. For example, mental health information, medical history information, demographic information, laboratory results, and health insurance information can all be considered protected health information. However, information isn’t considered “protected” health information unless it also contains an identifier, which is a way that someone can connect the data to a specific individual.

On June 2, 2023, HomecareGPS sent out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident.

More Information About Elgon Information Systems

Elgon Information Systems, d/b/a HomecareGPS, is a technology company based in Worcester, Massachusetts. The company develops software that helps home healthcare agencies ensure they remain compliant while improving their efficiencies. HomecareGPS also develops specific versions of the software based on its clients’ individual needs. HomecareGPS employs more than 25 people and generates approximately $5 million in annual revenue.