Heartland Dental, LLC, a business associate (BA), experienced a cyberattack that resulted in unauthorized access to several of its websites from March 31, 2013, through March 23, 2015. The hackers were then able to access databases containing the protected health information (PHI) of 2,860 individuals due to a website coding error. The compromised PHI included clinical, demographic, and financial information. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, affected individuals (on June 2, 2015), and the media. Following the breach, the CE modified the coding error, moved all databases containing PHI to its internal secure network, implemented a new software patch management policy (in October 2016), and activated a new firewall and new logging and monitoring systems. OCR obtained documented assurances that the CE implemented the corrective action steps listed above.
