M&C Children's Clinic

On March 19, 2013, the covered entity (CE), M & C Children’s Clinic, reported a breach when a hacker infected its network and encrypted patients’ electronic medical records. The hacker contacted the CE and demanded money in return for allowing access to patients’ records. The breach involved the clinical, financial, and demographic information of 3,667 individuals. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, affected individuals, and the media. Following the incident, the CE improved safeguards by adding enhanced firewalls and antivirus software. It also closed all electronic access ports and revised its data backup and recovery/restoration plan. Additionally, the CE trained staff on privacy and security. OCR provided technical assistance to the CE on the requirements for conducting a thorough assessment of the potential risks and vulnerabilities to ePHI.