Premier Health patient ‘scared’ of what could happen after software company’s data breach

DAYTON — More than 8 million people are victims of a nationwide data breach and one of the Miami Valley’s largest healthcare networks is included.

Hackers targeted Welltok, Inc., a software company used by Premier Health to better the communication between patients and providers.

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Victims were sent letters this month if their information was included in the breach, which initially happened in May. One letter recipient that News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott spoke to said the whole thing gives her anxiety.

“I have anxiety problems, so when I saw the letter, I’m like, ‘So they have my information,’” Debbie Wilcoxson, of Dayton, said. “I had anxiety because Premier is big.”

She told McDermott that she nearly tossed that letter in the trash when it first came in the mail.

The letter from Welltok said that since Wilcoxson is a Premier Health patient, which uses Welltok’s software MOVEit transfer, her personal information could be affected because of the data breach.

“Anything can happen. Something can happen where they use my identity and I can go to jail. I’m scared of that,” she said.

The letter points out that no evidence of fraud or misuse of patient information has been found yet, but there is a small group whose social security numbers, Medicare/Medicaid identification numbers, or health insurance have been tampered with.

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“I don’t want nobody knowing my personal information unless I tell them,” she said. “Otherwise, I would want it to stay private.”

As McDermott reported on News Center 7 at 5 p.m., she also would have wanted to find out about the breach back in May when it first happened, not several months later.

“We should have known,” she said.

As compensation for people like Wilcoxson, Welltok is offering a year of credit monitoring and identity protection services. Wilcoxson doesn’t think that is good enough.

“That’s nothing compared to what can be done with our information,” she said.

News Center 7 reached out to Premier Health and Welltok about the breach. Premier Health referred us to Welltok for media inquiries, who then referred us to an online release.

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