June 13, 2022

About 700 Avera McKennan patients have been affected by a data breach.

Avera learned of the issue from one of its vendors, MCG Health LLC, which provides patient care guidelines to health care providers and health plans, the system said in a statement.

MCG determined March 25 that an unauthorized party previously obtained personal information about some patients and members of certain MCG customers. The affected patient or member data included some or all of the following data elements: names, Social Security numbers, medical codes, postal addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and gender.  The Avera patients who were part of the data breach will receive a letter from MCG.

“Upon learning of this issue, MCG took steps to understand its nature and scope,” Avera said. “A leading forensic investigation firm was retained to assist in the investigation. Additionally, MCG is coordinating with law enforcement authorities. MCG has deployed additional monitoring tools and will continue to enhance the security of its systems.”

On June 10, MCG began sending notices to people whose information was affected and advised them to monitor their credit reports and account information and to check for unfamiliar activity. If suspicious activity is observed, they should contact the institution at which the account is maintained.

“Avera takes our patients’ information seriously; we apologize for any inconvenience and have cooperated fully to ensure people were notified in a timely manner,” the system said.

MCG has established a dedicated toll-free telephone number for affected individuals who may have questions or who would like additional information about the issue. The toll-free number is 866-475-7221 and is available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekends.