The covered entity (CE), BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, reported that an employee of its business associate (BA) was the victim of an email phishing scheme that affected the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 1,340 individuals. The ePHI involved included names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers, health insurance information, diagnoses, and other treatment information. The CE notified HHS, affected individuals, and the media. In response to the breach, the BA implemented additional administrative, technical, and security safeguards to better protect PHI. All employees were retrained on the proper methods of detecting and responding to fraudulent email communications. OCR provided the CE with technical assistance.
