On February 23 , 2016 , many people began receiving a fraudulent email titled " Important Information : invoice 11471 " from an unauthorized person who had accessed Mayfield Brain & Spine 's account at an outside vendor . This email was not sent by Mayfield . Mayfield notified recipients of the malicious email as soon as possible that same day , posted the information prominently on its website home page , and updated recipients again on February 25 with recommendations for remedy . Mayfield has completed its review and is issuing a final communication to all recipients by letter and also by distributing a press release of the incident and Mayfield 's response since that time . As previously reported on WCPO TV in February , the email was generated by an unknown , unauthorized person who accessed the database of an outside vendor . This vendor sends , via email , newsletters , educational information , invitations , announcements , and other information about Mayfield to patients , business associates , event attendees , website contacts and other friends of Mayfield . Recipients of the fraudulent email who clicked on an attachment within it potentially triggered a download of a ransomware virus . According to Thomas Rosenberger , Vice President of Communications , " The vendor receives only email addresses from Mayfield . No other health or financial information is shared . In this incident , no Mayfield systems were involved , and no patient health or financial information was compromised . Rosenberger added , " Mayfield 's first priority is always the well - being of our patients . Once we learned of the incident , we immediately communicated with recipients by email , by social media , and on our website , including both notification and instructions on how to remove the virus . " The communication included a free download of software to remove the malware . Mayfield has taken several steps to ensure that an incident like this does not happen again . These include working with the vendor 's compliance office to understand what transpired , locking the account so it can not be accessed , and working with a computer virus protection service to determine if the email and/or its attachment contained a virus . Mayfield has reviewed its policies and procedures to ensure that all patient information is secure . " We are continuously monitoring the situation , " Rosenberger said . " With all of the action taken to date , we do not believe that recipients of the fraudulent email need to take any additional steps at this time . " If you have questions or concerns about this event , more information is available at MayfieldClinic.com , or you can contact us by toll - free telephone at 800 - 325 - 7787 or by email at Comments@MayfieldClinic.com . SOURCE : Mayfield Clinic The incident was reported on April 23 to HHS as impacting 23,341 patients . ;