Primary Medicine of Sherman, PA/Robert J. Hernandez MD

The covered entity (CE), Primary Medicine of Sherman PA – Robert J. Hernandez, MD, reported that it did not have a proper business associate agreement (BAA) with its lab vendor that spelled out restrictions to the access of protected health information (PHI). This constituted a breach. The PHI involved included names and lab results. This breach affected approximately 1,335 individuals. In its mitigation efforts, the CE terminated its BAA with the vendor and retrained its staff on the requirements of a BAA. The CE notified HHS, affected individuals, and the media. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions noted.