Mid-Valley Behavioral Care Network

Mid-Valley Behavioral Care Network, the business associate (BA) that coordinates mental health benefits for Willamette Valley Community Health, the covered entity (CE), reported that several employees were the victims of an email phishing scheme that affected the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 10,710 individuals. The ePHI involved included names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, health insurance information, Social Security numbers, and clinical information. The BA notified HHS, the CE, affected individuals, and the media. Substitute notice was also provided. Upon discovery of the breach, the BA implemented additional technical safeguards and retrained its staff on the proper methods of identifying fraudulent email communications. During the investigation, OCR provided the BA with technical assistance regarding its security management processes.