Group Health

OCR opened an investigation of the covered entity (CE), Group Health Insurance, after it reported that postcard reminders were sent to 1,771 subscribers. The protected health information (PHI) involved included social security numbers within a series of other numbers inscribed on the outside of the postcard. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, the media, and affected individuals, and posted substitute notice on its website. Upon discovery of the breach, the CE suspended its mailing in order to verify subscriber information to ensure pending and completed projects did not contain social security numbers. As a result of OCR's investigation, the CE modified its mailing procedures to prevent similar disclosures from recurring in the future and retrained staff on its modified mailing procedure. The CE provided affected individuals with a free one year subscription for credit monitoring. \ \