The covered entity (CE), Iowa Department of Human Services, reported that an employee of its custodial vendor, improperly disposed of documents containing the protected health information (PHI) of approximately 4,501 individuals. The PHI involved included names, addresses, dates of birth, drivers’ license information, Social Security numbers, diagnoses/conditions, medications prescribed, health insurance information, and financial data. The CE notified HHS, affected individuals, the media, and provided a toll free number for questions or concerns. The CE also offered complimentary credit monitoring services for affected individuals. In its mitigation efforts and as a result of OCR’s investigation, the CE implemented physical and administrative safeguards to better protect its PHI. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions noted.
