Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest

Over a period of about three and half years, an employee of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest, the covered entity (CE), accessed patient records either without a business need to know or beyond the minimum necessary for her job. The impermissible access by the employee totaled 647 individuals. The type of protected health information involved in the breach included names and treatment information. The CE provided breach notification to HHS and affected individuals. Following the discovery of the breach the CE retrained employees. After an intensive investigation, it terminated the employee and disciplined four others for related misconduct. OCR obtained written assurances that the corrective actions were taken.