US Belgrade Regional Health Center Oct 2015 Technical Error (Q16102)
From Open Risk Manual
A data breach risk event
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | US Belgrade Regional Health Center Oct 2015 Technical Error |
A data breach risk event |
Statements
854E102C-ED08-442E-9F37-43F561739F3D
October 2015
0 references
When a physicians assistant left the Belgrade Regional Health Center, a letter was sent to patients to tell them about the impending change in personnel; however, that letter also resulted in a breach of 854 patients Protected Health Information (PHI). The mailing took place on October 21, 2015 and patients first started notifying the health center of the error two days later when the letters started to be received. An investigation into the incident revealed that an error had been made with the mail merge; a step in the mailing process that can easily result in the accidental disclosure of patient PHI. The error was made by a mailing vendor of the health center. A number of other healthcare providers have also experienced very similar privacy breaches this year. In this case, the letters (English)
