Monroeville-based medical practice says hundreds affected by data breach

MONROEVILLE — One of the area’s biggest physician practices says hundreds of patients are involved in a data breach.

Officials with Premier Medical Associates, based in Monroeville, said in a statement that the breach involved 900 people. Personal or protected health information users submitted to the group's public website may have been accessed by an unauthorized third party.

The medical group was alerted to the issue on Aug. 9.

The group said the breach was a result of an error made by the website’s vendor in July. Information submitted through the website’s “contact us” portion of the website was accessible to visitors to the website.

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The group also said that some people received emails from someone falsely claiming to be from Premier. They posted an email alert on the website and sent an email to everyone who submitted information to it. You can view that alert by clicking here.

“At Premier Medical Associates, we strive to place the highest priority on the privacy of our patients and all individuals who engage with us via our public website,” said Mark DeRubeis, CEO of Premier Medical Associates. “We sincerely regret and apologize for any concern or inconvenience this matter may cause those individuals who are affected, and we would like to reassure everyone that all appropriate corrective actions have been taken to secure our website and strengthen our oversight protocols to prevent it from happening again.”

If you’ve been contacted by PMA about this breach, we’d like to hear from you.  Please contact our WPXI Assignment Desk at 412-237-1101.

Cox Media Group