On August 27, 2023, Hospital Sisters Health System (“HSHS”) and Prevea Health began experiencing a “temporary system outage,” according to a notice on Prevea Health’s website. HSHS, which owns a 50% interest in Prevea Health, has not yet confirmed any unauthorized access, let alone compromised patient information. However, HSHS and Prevea indicated they will provide updates on the situation as they become available. If HSHS or Prevea Health confirm that confidential patient data was leaked, the companies will be required to send out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was affected by the recent data security incident.

If you receive a data breach notification from Hospital Sisters Health System or Prevea Health, it is essential you understand what is at risk and what you can do about it. A data breach lawyer can help you learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft, as well as discuss your legal options in the event of a Hospital Sisters or Prevea Health data breach. For more information, please see our recent piece on the topic here.

What Caused the System Outage at Hospital Sisters and Prevea Health?

The Hospital Sisters and Prevea health system outage was only recently announced, and more information is expected in the near future. However, at this point, the only source of information is the brief notice on Prevea Health’s website.

According to this source, HSHS hospitals and Prevea Health are working through a temporary system outage. Currently, patients cannot reliably access either company’s phone system, and MyChart and MyPrevea communications are temporarily not available.

In the meantime, Prevea Health and HSHS are relying on their “well-established downtime policies and procedures.”

Notably, neither Prevea Health nor Hospital Sisters has indicated that the system outage was the result of a cyberattack. However, based on the lack of information, that still remains a possibility. If there was a Prevea Health or Hospital Sisters data breach, it could mean that patient data was exposed to unauthorized access. In this case, HSHS and/or Prevea Health would be required to send data breach letters to anyone who was affected by the recent data security incident. These letters would provide patients with a list of what information belonging to them was compromised.

More Information About Hospital Sisters Health System

Founded in 1875, Hospital Sisters Health System is a multi-institutional healthcare system based in Springfield, Illinois. HSHS provides care for patients in 14 communities in Illinois and Wisconsin. Hospital Sisters employs more than 14,500 people and generates approximately $2.6 billion in annual revenue.

More Information About Prevea Health

Founded in 1996, Prevea Health is a healthcare organization based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Prevea Health provides primary and specialty care in more than 80 locations throughout Northern, Eastern and Western Wisconsin in both clinic and hospital settings. Prevea Health employs more than 2,000 people and generates approximately $268 million in annual revenue.