Notice of Third-Party Security Incident Impacting Northwest Health-Porter Data
This notice provides information regarding a security incident experienced by Nationwide Recovery Services (“NRS”), which NRS reported occurred between July 5 and July 11, 2024 that resulted in the unauthorized disclosure of personal information. NRS is a vendor of Northwest Health-Porter that may have received patient’s personal information in connection with assisting Northwest Health-Porter with payment resolution services.
What Happened?
In July 2024, NRS identified suspicious activity affecting certain systems in their network. Their investigation determined that an unauthorized party accessed their network and copied certain files and folders. NRS undertook a detailed review to determine what information was involved and which of their clients it related to. Northwest Health-Porter was notified by NRS on April 2, 2025, after they completed their review and identified that the data included information related to individuals associated with our organization. NRS implemented additional cybersecurity measures and reviewed existing security policies to further protect against similar incidents moving forward.
What Information Was Involved?
Based on information provided to us by NRS, the data affected may have included patient name, address, Social Security number, date of service, account balance information, and hospital name.
What We Are Doing?
We take the protection of personal information seriously and are committed to transparency when notified by a third party of an incident involving patient data. Upon learning of this incident from NRS, we promptly evaluated the information they provided to determine the potential impact on individuals associated with Northwest Health - Porter.
To help protect the identity of affected individuals, we are offering complimentary access to Experian IdentityWorksSM for 24 months.
How Will Individuals Know If They Are Affected By This Incident?
Northwest Health-Porter is providing notice to individuals whose information was determined to be included in the impacted data in accordance with our legal obligations, to the best of our ability and to the extent we have valid mailing addresses. If an individual does not receive a letter but would like to know if they are potentially affected, they may call the Northwest Health-Porter Facility Privacy Officer at (219) 983-8584.
For More Information
For individuals seeking more information or who have questions, please call the Northwest Health-Porter Facility Privacy Officer at (219) 983-8584. The Facility Privacy Officer will be available Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Central time.
What Can You Do?
We encourage individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing your account statements, explanation of benefit forms, and monitoring your free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors.
Order your free credit report at annualcreditreport.com, call toll-free at 877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) website at www.ftc.gov. When you receive your credit report, review the entire report carefully. Look for any inaccuracies and/or accounts you don’t recognize and notify the credit bureaus as soon as possible in the event there are any. You have rights under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). These include, among others, the right to know what is in your file; to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information; and to have consumer reporting agencies correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information. For more information about FCRA rights, see https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf.
Place a fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert helps protect you against an identity thief opening new credit in your name. With this alert, when a merchant checks your credit history when you apply for credit, the merchant will receive a notice that you may be a victim of identity theft and to take steps to verify your identity. You also have the right to place a security freeze on your credit file, which generally will prevent creditors from accessing your credit file at the three nationwide credit bureaus without your consent. Contact the credit bureaus below to learn more about these or to place a fraud alert or request a security freeze on your account. The credit bureaus may require that you provide proper identification prior to honoring your request.
• Equifax®
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374
1-800-525-6285
www.equifax.com
• Experian®
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013
1-888-397-3742
www.experian.com
• TransUnion®
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016
1-800-680-7289
www.transunion.com
Remove your name from mailing lists of pre-approved offers of credit for approximately six months.
If you aren’t already doing so, please pay close attention to all bills and credit card charges to check for items you did not contract for or purchase. Review all your bank account statements frequently for checks, purchases, or deductions not made by you. Note that even if you do not find suspicious activity initially, you should continue to check this information periodically since identity thieves sometimes hold on to stolen personal information before using it.
Where can I get additional information? The FTC offers consumer assistance and educational materials relating to identity theft and privacy issues. You can learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming an identity theft victim, including fraud alerts and security freezes, by contacting the FTC at 877.IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338), or www.ftc.gov/idtheft. The mailing address for the FTC is: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580.
You may also contact your state’s Attorney General to obtain information about fraud alerts and security freezes, security breaches, and how to prevent identity theft. If you detect any incident of identity theft or fraud, promptly report the incident to your local law enforcement authorities, your state Attorney General, and/or the FTC. You may also obtain a copy of police reports.
For District of Columbia Residents: Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, 441 4th Street, NW, Washington, DC 200001, 202.727.3400, oag.dc.gov.
For Maryland Residents: Maryland Attorney General at: 200 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD 21202, 888.743.0023, https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/.
For New York Residents: New York Attorney General, 212-416-8433 or https://ag.ny.gov/internet/resource-center. NYS Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection, 800-697-1220 or https://dos.ny.gov/consumer-protection.
For North Carolina Residents: North Carolina Attorney General at: 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699, 1-877-566-7226, ncdoj.gov.
For Rhode Island Residents: Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, 150 South Main Street Providence, RI 02903; Phone: 401-274-4400; Website: www.riag.ri.gov.