Nearly 12 million Quest Diagnostics patients are being warned of a data security breach.
American Medical Collection Agency, a billing collections service provider, has informed Quest that an unauthorized user had access to personal information AMCA receives from various entities, including Quest and Quest contractor Optum360.
The medical testing company says forensic experts are investigating the matter.
Quest said in a statement that AMCA first notified Quest and Optum360 on May 14 of potential unauthorized activity on its web payment page. On May 31, AMCA said the data breach included information of approximately 11.9 million Quest patients.
AMCA believes this information includes certain financial data, Social Security numbers and medical information, but not laboratory test results.
Quest said it has yet to receive information about which patients may be affected and it has not been able to verify the breach, but it has suspended sending collection requests to AMCA. The company says it will provide more information as it becomes known.
