St. Luke’s Medical Center said its electronic medical records, which keep patient information, remain unaffected following a mobile application breach that potentially affected the personal information of several patients and employees.
In its latest statement on Monday, Nov. 2, the hospital disclosed it identified unauthorized access to the platform supporting its mobile application “St. Luke’s eHealth Hub App,” on Oct. 29. According to the hospital, the application is managed by a third-party service provider.
“Upon detection, we immediately initiated containment and remediation measures… We engaged independent cybersecurity experts to conduct a comprehensive forensic investigation and to further strengthen our security safeguards,” the statement read.
The mobile application has since then been taken offline.
The hospital is in the process of notifying individuals whose personal details may have been affected.
The hospital initially issued a statement regarding the incident on Friday, Oct. 30, stating that “hospital operations remain unaffected” by the breach.
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) Spokesperson and Deputy Privacy Commissioner Jose Belarmino II confirmed they are reviewing the incident after receiving a breach notification, but refused to give further details.
“At this stage, we are unable to disclose further details as the matter undergoes the Commission’s regular evaluation process,” the Viber message read.
According to the Data Privacy Act of 2012, the NPC must be notified within three days after learning or reasonable belief that a data breach has occurred, with delays being prohibited if the breach involves at least 100 people. Partial-reports based on currently available information are allowed if the full scale of a breach is not yet identified.
St. Luke’s Medical Center, which has branches in Taguig and Quezon cities, launched its “St. Luke’s eHealth Hub App” in July 2024 for iOS and Android.
According to the hospital’s website, the app allows patients to view digital lab results, make online payments, book doctor’s appointments and manage family health records among other features.
