Pediatric Gastroenterology Consultants

On October 16, 2014, an employee of the covered entity (CE), Pediatric Gastroenterology Consultants, P.C., discovered that a laptop owned by the CE had been stolen from his vehicle. The laptop was password-protected but unencrypted, and it contained the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of approximately 5,000 individuals. Specifically, it contained patients’ first and last names, dates of birth, dates of service, and medical information including, medical histories, lab test results, diagnoses, and medical treatment recommendations. The CE provided breach notification HHS, affected individuals, the media. Following the breach, the CE implemented corrective actions, such as encryption and employee security training, to prevent similar breaches from occurring in the future. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions listed above.