Linda J White, DDS

On June 27, 2016, the covered entity (CE), Dr. Linda White, reported that an external hard drive device containing a backup of the dental practice's computer server was not returned for proper destruction by an employee. Approximately 2,000 individuals were affected by the breach and the types of protected health information (PHI) stolen included patients’ names, dates of births, social security numbers, and limited medical information. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, affected individuals, and the media. The CE determined after a formal risk assessment that the level of risk was very low because the stolen hard drive required specific software to be utilized for the employee to gain access to the patients’ PHI. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions listed. County officials initiated prosecution of the employee who possessed the hard drive device.