Local 693 Plumbers & Pipefitters Health & Welfare Fund

On January 23, 2017, a break-in occurred at the office of Local 693 Health & Welfare Fund, the covered entity (CE), an employee welfare benefit program, and an external computer hard drive containing the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of approximately 1,291 individuals was stolen. The ePHI included names, addresses, phone numbers and social security numbers. OCR’s investigation revealed that the drive contained some technical safeguards that made the risk of further disclosure low. As a result of OCR’s investigation, the CE implemented several new physical and technical safeguards and provided a call-center for affected individuals. The CE timely notified OCR, the media and affected individuals or their next-of-kin.