AltaMed Health Services

The covered entity (CE), AltaMed Health Services Corporation, reported that its business associate (BA), Centrelake Medical Group, Inc., experienced a ransomware attack that affected the protected health information (PHI) of 5,650 individuals. The PHI involved included names, addresses, phone numbers, drivers’ license information, Social Security numbers, claims information, diagnoses/conditions, and treatment information. The CE notified HHS, affected individuals, the media, and provided substitute notice. In its mitigation efforts, the BA provided one year of free credit monitoring and identity restoration services to affected individuals and implemented additional technical and security safeguards to better protect PHI. AltaMed reported this incident to HHS, health plans that were affected by this incident, as well as the California Attorney General, and California Department of Public Health. OCR obtained assurances that AHS and BA implemented the corrective actions noted.