Bienville Orthopaedic Specialists

The covered entity (CE), Bienville Orthopaedic Specialists, reported that it experienced a ransomware that compromised the protected health information (PHI) of 242,986 individuals. The PHI involved included names, addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, drivers’ license and Social Security numbers, and claims and financial information. The CE notified HHS, affected individuals, the media, and provided substitute notice on its website. In its mitigation efforts, the CE implemented additional administrative, technical, and security safeguards to better protect its PHI. Staff were retrained on the requirement to protect and secure sensitive data. OCR provided technical assistance regarding the timeliness requirements of the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule.