Becker Health IT reports that Metro Infectious Disease Consultants, an infectious disease physician practice with locations in the Chicago metropolitan area, began notifying 171,740 patients that its data may have been exposed in a data breach. The suspected breach was discovered on June 24; hackers had breached employee email accounts and may have accessed patients’ personal information. Upon investigation, it was determined that the hackers may have accessed patient names, birth dates, social security numbers, and medical-related data. Metro Infectious Disease Consultants promptly secured the email accounts and contained the incident, and the group will offer credit-monitoring services and identity theft protection for individuals whose social security numbers or driver’s license numbers were exposed.