Cancer Care Northwest P.S

The covered entity (CE) accidentally mailed the protected health information (PHI) of approximately 3,100 individuals to other individuals when a mail-merge process mismatched names and addresses. The PHI involved in the breach included names and indicated that the individuals were patients of the CE. Following the breach, the CE implemented additional safeguards, as well as policies and procedures to ensure mailing list accuracy. As a result of this incident, OCR required the CE to train its workforce members on its newly developed policies and procedures. Additionally, OCR provided technical assistance regarding substitute breach notification methods, including a conspicuous posting on the CE's website.