Psychiatric Associates of North Carolina, Professional Association

The covered entity (CE), Psychiatric Associates of North Carolina, P.A., reported that an employee sent an email to 1,081 recipients and failed to use the blind carbon copy function, thereby, exposing the email addresses of all recipients. The CE notified HHS, affected individuals, and the media. In response to the breach, the CE briefed its staff members on the incident and provided additional training to the responsible employee. In addition, the CE adopted new HIPAA policies and procedures and will include them in its annual HIPAA training. OCR provided technical assistance to the CE and obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions noted.